Gichomo,David Giita2024-08-212024-08-212024-07https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/28680A Research Thesis Submitted to the School of Education in Partial Fulfilment for the Award of the Degree of Master of Education (Educational Psychology) of Kenyatta University. July, 2024 Supervisor James OluochAcademic burnout is a condition that arises from students’ feeling of exhaustion and incompetence in academics. The academic burnout might be due to multiple factors such as school assignments, continuous assessment tests among other examinations. These may lead to academic disinterest and students’ unexplained absenteeism. This study intended to establish the relationship between academic engagement, grit and academic burnout among form three students in Kipipiri Sub-county in Nyandarua County, Kenya. Students experiencing academic burnout may face maladjustment that may seriously affect their academic path. Students in Nyandarua County secondary schools experience academic burnout. The aim of this study therefore, was to determine the relationship between academic engagement and academic burnout and to establish the relationship between academic grit and academic burnout. Further, the study sought to establish the prediction equation for academic burnout from academic engagement and academic grit. Work engagement theory and grit theory were used to guide this study. Correlation research design was employed. Form three students were the target population 1,152 (572 boys and 580 girls) from 8 secondary schools in Kipipiri Sub-county. The sampling methods that were used in the study are purposive sampling, proportionate sampling and simple random sampling. The sample comprised of 349 participants from 8 secondary schools. Research tools used consisted of the Utrecht work engagement scale meant for students, academic grit scale and the academic burnout scale. A pilot study was carried out using 36 students selected randomly in one of the schools within Kipipiri Sub-county. To ascertain validity of the research instrument, the researcher presented them to expert (supervisors) for scrutiny. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was used to ascertain the reliability of the research instruments. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS version 25) was used to compute inferential and descriptive statistic. The study established that there exists a significant negative relationship between academic engagement and academic burnout. r(345) = -.68, p< .05. It was also established that there exists a negative and significant relationship between grit and academic burnout, suggesting that, the higher the academic grit, the lower the academic burn out and vice versa. , r (345) = -.76, p< .05. It was established that both grit and academic engagement had a joint negative and significant predictive value on academic burnout among form three students in Kipipiri Sub County. R obtained was 0.59 which suggests that 59% variance in academic burnout is explained by grit and academic engagement. The study recommends that teachers should come up with guidance programs and other more relevant interventions to help students boost their academic engagement and grit in order to reduce academic burnout.enThesis