Relationship Between Educational Factors and Academic Achievement of Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in Saudi Universities: The Mediating Role of Teaching Expertise

Issues related to academic achievement of deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students in higher education has led to the need of deep understanding about factors that are related to academic achievement among DHH students. However, studies related to the relationship between educational factors, teaching expertise, and academic achievement among DHH students in Saudi universities are still scarce. To fill the gap, this study aimed to examine the relationship between educational factors and the academic achievement of DHH students in Saudi universities along with the mediating effect of teaching expertise on this relationship. The simple random sampling technique was employed to identify the target participants for this study. Using a quantitative survey approach, data were collected from 298 DHH students from Saudi universities. All questionnaires were analyzed by using structural equation modelling (SEM) via AMOS. The results indicated a statistically significant relationship between educational factors, teaching expertise and the academic achievement. Results revealed a statistically significant relationship between educational factors and teaching expertise. Moreover, a mediating role was found for teaching expertise in the relationship between educational factors and the academic achievement. These findings would offer perception for policy-makers in future planning for such programs, which can positively reflect on the performance of educational institutions, thus improving the academic achievement of DHH students. The study suggests that the teaching expertise and educational factors should be employed to improve academic achievements of DHH students in Saudi universities.