Work engagement and its antecedents and consequences: A case of lecturers teaching synchronous distance education courses

Using the job demands-resources model (JD-R model), we investigated the work engagement of lecturers (N = 40) teaching synchronous distance education courses and its antecedents (i.e., job demands/job resources) and consequences (i.e., lecturers' intention to continue to teach synchronous distance education courses) over 10 consecutive teaching days (N = 40^∗10 = 400 occasions). We posited that job demands negatively predict lecturers' work engagement (H1), whereas job resources positively predict it (H2) and that lecturers' work engagement positively predicts their intention to continue to teach synchronous distance education courses (H3) and fully mediates the relationship between job demands and job resources and lecturers' intention to continue to teach synchronous distance education courses (H4). The results of the multilevel analysis supported the proposed hypotheses. These findings have important practical implications because they elucidate the potential hindrances and contributors that may affect lecturers' intention to teach synchronous distance education courses (the next mainstream teaching approach, which is cost-free but increases universities’ profit) through influencing their work engagement levels.