Showing papers on "Student engagement published in 1993"

Motivation in the classroom: Reciprocal effects of teacher behavior and student engagement across the school year.

Abstract: On the basis of a new model of motivation, we examined the effects of 3 dimensions of teacher (n = 14) behavior (involvement, structure, and autonomy support) on 144 children's (Grades 3-5) behavioral and emotional engagement across a school year. Correlational and path analyses revealed that teacher involvement was central to children's experiences in the classroom and that teacher provision of both autonomy support and optimal structure predicted children's motivation across the school year. Reciprocal effects of student motivation on teacher behavior were also found. Students who showed higher initial behavioral engagement received subsequently more of all 3 teacher behaviors. These findings suggest that students who are behaviorally disengaged receive teacher responses that should further undermine their motivation. The importance of the student-teacher relationship, especially interpersonal involvement, in optimizing student motivation is highlighted. What are the factors that motivate children to learn? Educators and parents value motivation in school for its own sake as well as for its long-term contribution to children's learning and self-esteem. Highly motivated children are easy to identify: They are enthusiastic, interested, involved, and curious; they try hard and persist; and they actively cope with challenges and setbacks. These are the children who should stay in school longer, learn more, feel better about themselves, and continue their education after high school. Recent research has borne this out (Ames & Ames, 1984, 1985; Pintrich, 1991; Stipek, 1988). Although motivated students are easy to recognize, they are difficult to find. Research shows that across the preschool to high school years, children's intrinsic motivation decreases and they feel increasingly alienated from learning (Harter, 1981). Why is it so difficult to optimize student motivation? Decades of psychological and educational research

School Characteristics Related to Student Engagement.

Abstract: It is well established that American students at risk often exhibit patterns of emotional and behavioral withdrawal or disengagement from school. These withdrawal behaviors may culminate in complete disengagement, that is, leaving school without graduating. This investigation examines aspects of the structural and regulatory environment of schools to identify features that are associated with higher levels of engagement among eighth-grade students at risk.

Styles of engagement with learning: multidimensional assessment of their relationship with strategy use and school achievement

Abstract: This investigation examined ways in which student beliefs and goals distinguish different styles of engagement with learning and how such styles are associated with both the strategies students report using when preparing for exams and school achievement. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of students with similar patterns of beliefs about their own learning. Within a cohort of 137 female llth-grade students, 6 styles of engagement were identified. Analysis of the influence of these styles on strategies adopted for exam preparation indicated differences in the strategies reported. Styles of engagement were also significantly related to school achievement. Findings are discussed in terms of insights achieved through adopting methods of analysis that preserve the multidimensional character of student engagement with learning. This investigation is concerned with examination of the relationship between an individual's general motivational orientation and some features of learning behavior. It emphasizes the interdependence of the sets of goals that guide learning. Students bring to the learning context a personal construction of the purposes of their learning and a set of beliefs about themselves as learners. These beliefs are thought to exert a powerful influence on learning (Paris & Newman, 1990). Typically, variables representing students' beliefs and goals in learning have been studied as separate variables, and their influence on learning has been assessed as independent effects. An important complementary view involves considering these variables as interdependent sets (Corno & Snow, 1986; Iran-Nejad, McKeachie, & Berliner, 1990). This investigation is concerned with a number of general student goals and beliefs about learning and with the ways in which combinations of those goals and beliefs, referred to here as styles of engagement, are associated with learning strategies and academic achievement. Groups of llth-grade students with similar patterns of goals and beliefs about learning were identified, and differences in their learning strategies and learning outcomes were examined. The learning strategy measures were based on strategies students reported using when preparing for midyear exams, and school achievement measures consisted of final grades awarded at the end of the students' 11th- and 12th-grade school years. The model of motivation in learning that informs the current investigation assumes that characteristics that the individual learner brings to the learning context shape and combine with the learner's construction of the task and its I wish to thank the students who cooperated in the collection of these data and acknowledge the helpful comments of Robert Reeve, Suzanne Hidi, Krystyna Gilowska, and two anonymous reviewers. The data analysis was supported by a Special Initiatives

Interaction Processes and Student Outcomes in Cooperative Learning Groups

Abstract: This research examined relations between small-group learning experiences and various academic and social outcomes. Observational measures of the frequency and quality of cooperative learning activities in 18 fourth- through sixth-grade classrooms from 4 schools in 2 districts were related to questionnaire measures of students' attitudes toward school; perceptions of classroom climate; intrinsic motivation; and social attitudes, skills, and values; and to performance on a measure of reading comprehension and a standardized achievement test. The findings indicated that the effects of cooperative learning on students depend on the quality of group interaction. Frequent "high-quality" group experiences-in which group members were friendly, helped one another, showed concern for one another's welfare, and worked collaboratively-were associated with a more positive classroom environment, increased liking for school, and greater intrinsic motivation, concern for others, and self-esteem. In contrast, frequent lo...

Teacher roles in the learner-centred classroom

Abstract: It is generally accepted that a learner-centred approach to teaching alters the role played by the learners. It is less often pointed out that learner-centred teaching involves a parallel change in the teacher's role. This article looks at the role of learning counsellor which the teacher has to assume in a learner-centred approach, and the responsibilities which this role brings with it.

Predicting Learning From Student Experience of Teaching: A Theory of Student Knowledge Construction in Classrooms

Abstract: This article describes the development of a model of student learning based on analyses of detailed continuous observations and recordings of the classroom experience of individual students in three separate studies of curriculum units in science and social studies in elementary and middle-school classes. The model describes student learning as the creation of specific knowledge constructs. It defines the number of instances and types of relevant experience required for construct generation and the time intervals within which the experiences must occur. Data analysis rules developed from this model were applied to the student experience data and predicted student learning of the individual outcome test items across the three studies involving different curriculum areas, with 80–85% success. Data from interviews and recordings of spontaneous student talk are used to identify the cognitive processing that leads to construct generation.

Academic Dishonesty: A Student Development Dilemma

Abstract: The author reviews the current literature to support the position that academic dishonesty is best addressed from a student development perspective.

Participatory research: Three models and an analysis

Abstract: This article examines three models of participatory research: what we call the parallel process model, the mutual engagement model, and the University of Central America (UCA) model. These models represent successively greater degrees of academic engagement with outside communities—from complementary, though not necessarily uncommitted, engagement by academic(s); to compromised full engagement between the academic(s) and the community; to institutional engagement between the entire university and the community. Our analysis outlines the tensions that may arise within participatory research between service and scholarship. We conclude that for participatory research to capture the attention and involvement of the broader discipline, it must provide a spectrum of theory, methods, and substance that sociologists find of importance independent of the participatory way in which such contributions are generated.

Interrelationships among students' study activities, self-concept of academic ability, and achievement as a function of characteristics of high-school biology courses

Abstract: This investigation focused on the interrelationships among students' study activities, students' self‐concept of academic ability ratings, students' academic achievement, and instructional practices in 12 high school biology courses. Using a framework derived from a previous investigation, course features were classified into those that appear to (a) place demands on, (b) support, or (c) compensate for student engagement in particular study activities. Students' study activities, self‐concept of academic ability ratings, and achievement were measured with experimenter‐developed instruments. Results are reported for (a) characteristics of instruments and course features, (b) relationships between central factors of the investigation, and (c) multi‐level relationships between course features and student variables. Results at the student level indicated that self‐concept of academic ability and, to a lesser extent, students' study activities were positively associated with student achievement. Students' self‐concept of academic ability ratings were also linked to students' engagement in generative, proactive study activities. At the course level the supportive practices of providing challenging homework assignments and extensive feedback on student coursework were associated with student engagement in effortful, generative, proactive study activities. The provision of extensive feedback was also associated with high student achievement. Multi‐level relationships were analysed using hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) analyses. These analyses revealed, for example, that in courses in which little or no feedback is given on homework assignments, the relationship between achievement and student engagement in diligent effort management activities was enhanced. Other HLM analyses were conducted to examine the mediating role of course features on the relationship between students' self‐concept of academic ability and their study activities and achievement. For example, the presence of challenging course demands was associated with an enhancement of the relationship between self‐concept of academic ability and achievement whereas the presence of instructor provisions (supports and compensations) designed to reduce course demands was associated with a reduction in this relationship. Copyright © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Student Activism as a Form of Leadership and Student Development

Abstract: The authors explore the notion that student activism is a form of leadership and development, and review the developmental potelrtial of activists’ behavior and thought.

Academic involvement at university

Abstract: The call for students to become more involved in their academic study is not new. However few studies have investigated academic involvement as it is experienced by university students. This paper discusses the results of a study that was designed to explore student perceptions of the nature of academic involvement in learning. In addition students were asked to identify factors in their learning experience that encouraged or discouraged their academic involvement. The results reported here are drawn from interviews with 58 first and second year students attending Victoria University of Wellington. The results demonstrate that students experience involvement in qualitatively and quantitatively different ways that appear to be related to approach to learning. A major focus of the paper is on the interactive role personal and contextual factors play in the development of involvement. It is suggested that such factors combine to produce a particular learning climate that directly affects involvement in learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of this research for university policy, teaching practice and course design and makes some suggestions for further research.

Outside the Classroom: Students as Employees, Volunteers, and Interns.

Abstract: DOCUMENT RESUME

Taking Students Seriously: A Guide for New Law Teachers.

Abstract: All advice from colleagues, Professor Harlan Dalton once remarked, can be reduced to four words: Do as I do. Or even to three words: Be like me. That is true of my advice in this essay on managing law students. I'm going to tell you to do as I do, with two caveats. You have to be yourself as a teacher, so if what I describe just does not fit your personality at all, do what does. And second, I'm going to tell you about what I aim for in teaching but rarely achieve. So, in twenty-three words, this essay can be summarized as \"If it makes sense to you, do what I try to do, and what I sometimes actually accomplish on a very good day.\

Transition to higher education

Abstract: The period between the end of high school and the beginning of college is dynamic for any student. Postsecondary institutions need to consider an array of opportunities as they develop transition programs for undergraduate students of traditional age with disabilities.

Restructuring to Improve Student Performance.

Abstract: If high schools are to successfully educate all students, they need the efficiency of the four-period day and concrete incentives to promote learning, according to this writer, who provides a look at how the system would work.

Student retention: Moving from numbers to action

Abstract: We describe a multifaceted approach to providing information to improve student retention at an urban public university. Many students at this institution are older, working people; few live on campus and participate in “traditional” student experiences. A Retention Task Force, using qualitative as well as quantitative methods, identified problems that were barriers to student success or that contributed to student departure. We outline our results to date, address strategies for involving administrators, faculty, staff, and students, and discuss future research plans. We describe elements of a model for transferring information from the research realm into the policy arena.

Student metaphors for the college freshman experience

Abstract: Entry into college is part of a recurrent socialization that takes place in academic settings. From the standpoint of colleges and universities as well as students, successful student socialization is vital. It is important, therefore, to understand the perspectives students have about their own socialization. The purpose of this study was to describe student perceptions of what it means to be a new college/university student. Metaphors generated by freshman university students to describe the freshman experience were collected and analyzed. For communication scholars interested in the language of students, these metaphors provide insight into freshman socialization from the student perspective.