Academic enthusiasm

Introduction: Academic enthusiasm is one of the concepts of positive psychology in educational processes, which can increase under the influence of perceived educational ethics, thinking style and academic engagement. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between perceived educational ethics and thinking styles with students' academic enthusiasm, considering the mediating role of academic conflict. Material and Methods: The research method was descriptive correlation type with structural modeling approach. The statistical population included all the students of the fourth experimental high school of public schools in the center of Maysan city in the academic year 2023-2024 in the number of 1952 people, using Cochran's formula, 281 of them were selected by stratified random sampling. To collect research data, four standard questionnaires of perceived educational ethics, thinking style, academic engagement and academic enthusiasm were used. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and confirmed through factor analysis. The reliability of the instrument was confirmed using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Data analysis was done using Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis and structural equation model in SPSS and Lisrel statistical software. Results: The results showed that the relationship between perceived educational ethics and thinking styles with academic enthusiasm is positive and significant. Also, the results showed that the mediating role of academic engagement in the relationship between perceived educational ethics and thinking styles with academic enthusiasm is positive and significant. Conclusion: Based on the results, it is possible to use the perceived educational ethics, thinking style and academic engagement in students to increase academic enthusiasm.

Purpose: Enhancing divergent thinking and academic enthusiasm in students can positively affect their academic and non-academic performances. Consequently, the present study aimed to determine the effectiveness of critical thinking education on divergent thinking and the academic enthusiasm of high school students. Methodology: This quasi-experimental study followed a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up design with experimental and control groups. The research population comprised all female students in the 10th and 11th grades of the academic branch in Saveh city for the 2022-23 academic year, with a sample size calculated as 25 for each group based on G*Power software. Thus, 50 individuals were purposively selected and randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of 75-minute critical thinking training, while the control group received no intervention during this period. The research instruments included the divergent thinking subscale in Kolb’s (1984) Learning Style Inventory and Schaufeli et al.’s (2002) Academic Enthusiasm Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and Bonferroni post-hoc tests in SPSS software. Findings: The results showed significant differences between the experimental and control groups in post-test and follow-up stages in terms of divergent thinking and academic enthusiasm. In other words, critical thinking education led to an increase in divergent thinking and academic enthusiasm among high school students, and the results were sustained at the follow-up stage (P<0.05). Conclusion: According to the results of this study, counselors and psychologists can use critical thinking education alongside other effective educational methods to improve academic and non-academic characteristics of students.