The mediating role of self-regulatory emotions in the relationship between peer coaching and student learning in higher education

ABSTRACT

Drawing on Bandura's (1986. Social Foundations of Thought and Action. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall) social cognitive theory, this study examines the relationship between peer coaching and students’ learning performance, mediated by self-regulatory emotions, in a higher education setting. In a longitudinal field study, data was collected from 297 undergraduate students enrolled at a government-funded university in Hong Kong, and was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings reveal significant associations between facilitation and guidance coaching, as well as their interactive effects, and four self-regulatory emotions: cheerfulness, dejection, quiescence, and agitation. Importantly, the two coaching styles indirectly influence students’ learning performance through the mediating effects of dejection and agitation. This research contributes to existing knowledge by illuminating the theoretical and practical implications of academic coaching, students’ emotions, and learning in higher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Academic coaching
• peer coaching
• coaching styles
• emotions
• self-regulation
• learning performance

Acknowledgement

The authors thank Roy Lee for his valuable assistance with this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).