Redefining education: The role of study crafting in enhancing students' well-being, self-direction, and academic achievement

In this study, we examine the concept of “study crafting”, whereby students personalize their education in line with their strengths, interests, and goals. It is based on the concept of job crafting that has gained traction in work and organizational psychology. Study crafting could be valuable in higher education, where personalized learning experiences are increasingly vital. We developed a measurement for study crafting and analyzed its relationships with related constructs in a sample of 382 Dutch university students. Study crafting was positively associated with psychological need satisfaction, self-directed learning skills, and academic satisfaction, and negatively with burnout. Structural equation modeling revealed that study crafting had an indirect effect on self-directed learning, burnout, academic satisfaction, and academic achievement through psychological need satisfaction. While our findings suggest significant associations between study crafting and various student outcomes, it is important to note that cross-sectional designs limit the ability to draw causal inferences.