The present paper analyses the relevance of academic engagement in the process of students dropping out of school. Previous studies have consistently shown strong associations between engagement and students’ achievement outcomes. The increased attention given to academic engagement in recent years is also visible in the efforts of stakeholders in higher education to increase engagement and, consequently, to reduce dropout. The relationships between engagement and dropout rates are somewhat fuzzier, vigor, dedication, and absorption vary inconsistently in students at risk. Using a correlation research design, we tested several dimensions of academic engagement as predictors of early dropout intentions on a sample of first-year students (N = 1063). The results showed that psychological academic engagement of students is a significant predictor of early dropout intentions. Differences in academic engagement given by family background and academic context were also tested. The implications of the results are discussed in the light of possible interventions for increasing academic engagement of university students. Also, suggestions for including employers in academic engagement and dropout interventions are given.

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The main aim of the present research is to analyze the predictive value of individual characteristics such as online self-efficacy, adaptability to uncertainty, and sources of stress during online learning on learning engagement. We also aimed to highlight if these relationships could be mediated by the online self-regulated learning strategies, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants were 529 university students and the design was cross-sectional. The results showed significant associations of the sources of stress in online learning with self-efficacy, leaning engagement and self-regulated learning strategies. Self-regulated strategies—task strategies and goal setting represent mediators of stressors perceived by the students under the conditions of the sudden shift to online activity and online learning engagement. The most relevant self-regulation strategies seemed to be goal setting and task strategies, which confirm the need for a clear structure of learning in the context of online activities. The implications of this study reside in the increased awareness regarding how learning engagement in online learning can be predicted by individual characteristics.

The current paper presents a study regarding adult students' attitudes towards academic learning, seen as an ongoing sociallyintegrated and personally-consistent process, in linkage to learning satisfaction, in its multifaceted structure and complex understanding. The study aims to investigate how do students, who are above the average age of most of their faculty colleagues, relate to the academic endeavor and also their preferences and perceived abilities when it comes to learning and the consequent challenges. For this reason, a convenience sample of 80 adult students, ages 25 to 57, was involved and asked to give an input regarding different learning-related aspects. From a methodological point of view, a questionnaire consisting of 19 closed-ended items was used, measuring, on one hand, one's perception regarding learning contexts and outcomes, and on the other hand, the self-perceived efficiency of one's learning efforts, on a five-point Likert scale. The findings were put in a relationship with the learning satisfaction measured for the whole academic experience, for each individual. Learning satisfaction was measured through a 26 items inventory referring to the concept from a factorial perspective (six identified factors pertaining to learning satisfaction), on a six-point intensity scale. Results converge into a perspective where age is an intriguing factor in possibly differentiating between attitudinal patterns concerning learning and satisfaction that pertain to the academic experience.

Nowadays school is considered to be a living organization where students, teachers and community members come together to educate young ones to become active members of the society. With all that we say formal education is student centered, sometimes the reality shows quite the opposite. In order to identify the citizens' opinion regarding school reality we investigated over 223 citizens with different learning needs, of which 104 were young adults. We organized 22 focus groups and the obtained data were analyzed in ESPOIR soft and in Excel program.