Showing papers on "Student engagement published in 2008"

Unmasking the Effects of Student Engagement on First-Year College Grades and Persistence

Abstract: (2008). Unmasking the Effects of Student Engagement on First-Year College Grades and Persistence. The Journal of Higher Education: Vol. 79, No. 5, pp. 540-563.

Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology

Abstract: This position paper introduces the emerging concept of work engagement: a positive, fulfilling, affective-motivational state of work-related well-being that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption. Although there are different views of work engagement, most scholars agree that engaged employees have high levels of energy and identify strongly with their work. The most often used instrument to measure engagement is the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, a self-report instrument that has been validated in many countries across the world. Research on engagement has investigated how engagement differs from related concepts (e.g., workaholism, organizational commitment), and has focused on the most important predictors of work engagement. These studies have revealed that engagement is a unique concept that is best predicted by job resources (e.g., autonomy, supervisory coaching, performance feedback) and personal resources (e.g., optimism, self-efficacy, self-esteem). Moreover, the first studies have shown that work engagement is predictive of job performance and client satisfaction. The paper closes with an account of what we do not know about work engagement, and offers a brief research agenda for future work.

Student engagement with school: Critical conceptual and methodological issues of the construct.

Abstract: Research supports the connection between engagement, achievement, and school behavior across levels of economic and social advantage and disadvantage. Despite increasing interest and scientific findings, a number of interrelated conceptual and methodological issues must be addressed to advance this construct, particularly for designing data-supported interventions that promote school completion and enhanced educational outcomes for all students. Of particular concern is the need to (a) develop consensus on the name of the construct, (b) identify reliable measures of the dimensions of the construct, and (c) complete the construct validation studies needed to move research and intervention forward. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Engagement and Disaffection in the Classroom: Part of a Larger Motivational Dynamic?

Abstract: A study of 805 4th through 7th graders used a model of motivational development to guide the investigation of the internal dynamics of 4 indicators of behavioral and emotional engagement and disaffection and the facilitative effects of teacher support and 3 student self-perceptions (competence, autonomy, and relatedness) on changes in these indicators over the school year. In terms of internal dynamics, emotional components of engagement contributed significantly to changes in their behavioral counterparts; feedback from behavior to changes in emotion were not as consistent. Teacher support and students' self-perceptions (especially autonomy) contributed to changes in behavioral components: Each predicted increases in engagement and decreases in disaffection. Tests of process models revealed that the effects of teacher context were mediated by children's self-perceptions. Taken together, these findings suggest a clear distinction between indicators and facilitators of engagement and begin to articulate the dynamics between emotion and behavior that take place inside engagement and the motivational dynamics that take place outside of engagement, involving the social context, self-systems, and engagement itself.

Students’ engagement in first‐year university

Abstract: This paper reports on seven calibrated scales of student engagement emerging from a large‐scale study of first year undergraduate students in Australian universities. The analysis presents insights into contemporary undergraduate student engagement, including online, self‐managed, peer and student‐staff engagement. The results point to the imperative for developing a broader understanding of engagement as a process with several dimensions. These must be acknowledged in any measurement and monitoring of this construct in higher education. The paper calls for a more robust theorising of the engagement concept that encompasses both quantitative and qualitative measures. It considers implications for pedagogy and institutional policy in support of enhancing the quality of the student experience.

Teacher–Student Support, Effortful Engagement, and Achievement: A 3-Year Longitudinal Study

Abstract: Measures of teacher-student relationship quality (TSRQ), effortful engagement, and achievement in reading and math were collected once each year for 3 consecutive years, beginning when participants were in 1st grade, for a sample of 671 (53.1% male) academically at-risk children attending 1 of 3 school districts in Texas. In separate latent variable structural equation models, the authors tested the hypothesized model, in which Year 2 effortful engagement mediated the association between Year 1 TSRQ and Year 3 reading and math skills. Conduct engagement was entered as a covariate in these analyses to disentangle the effects of effortful engagement and conduct engagement. Reciprocal effects of effortful engagement on TSRQ and of achievement on effortful engagement were also modeled. Results generally supported the hypothesized model. Year 1 variables had a direct effect on Year 3 variables, above year-to-year stability. Findings suggest that achievement, effortful engagement, and TSRQ form part of a dynamic system of influences in the early grades, such that intervening at any point in this nexus may alter children's school trajectories.

New Benchmarks in Higher Education: Student Engagement in Online Learning

Abstract: The increase in the adop-tion of Internet-related technologies for online learning has been accompanied by a parallel, but separate, demand for greater accountability in higher education. Measures ...

School Engagement Trajectories and Their Differential Predictive Relations to Dropout

Abstract: Although most theories draw upon the construct of school engagement in their conceptualization of the dropout process, research addressing its hypothesized prospective relation with dropout remains scarce and does not account for the academic and social heterogeneity of students who leave school prematurely. This study explores the reality of different life-course pathways of school engagement and their predictive relations to dropout. Using an accelerated longitudinal design, we used growth mixture modeling to generate seven distinct trajectories of school engagement with 12- to 16-year-old students (N = 13,300). A vast majority of students were classified into three stable trajectories, distinguishing themselves at moderate to very high levels of school engagement. We refer to these as developmentally normative pathways in light of their frequent occurrence and stability. Although regrouping only one-tenth of participants, four other nonnormative (or unexpected pathways) accounted for the vast majority of dropouts. Dropout risk was closely linked with unstable pathways of school engagement. We conclude by debating the delicate investment balance between universal strategies and more selective and differentiated strategies to prevent dropout. We also discuss the need to better understand why, within normative trajectories, some students with high levels of school engagement drop out of school.

Engagement as flourishing: The contribution of positive emotions and coping to adolescents' engagement at school and with learning

Abstract: Fredrickson's (1998, 2001) broaden and build theory postulates that the experience of frequent positive emotions serves to broaden humans' thoughts and behaviors, resulting in accrual of resources, including coping resources, which catalyze upward spirals toward future well-being. Initial research supports the tenets of broaden and build; however, few if any, studies have examined this theory with children or adolescents, particularly in the context of school experiences. This study explored the role of positive emotions during school, coping, and student engagement among a sample of 293 students in grades 7 to 10. As expected, frequent positive emotions during school were associated with higher levels of student engagement and negative emotions with lower levels of engagement. Positive emotions, but not negative emotions, were associated with adaptive coping, which was then associated with student engagement. The association between positive emotions and engagement was partially mediated by adaptive coping. Results support the broaden and build theory and the role of positive emotions in students' engagement at school and with learning. Implications and future directions for research are discussed. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Effects of Discipline on Deep Approaches to Student Learning and College Outcomes

Abstract: “Deep learning” represents student engagement in approaches to learning that emphasize integration, synthesis, and reflection. Because learning is a shared responsibility between students and faculty, it is important to determine whether faculty members emphasize deep approaches to learning and to assess how much students employ these approaches. This study examines the effect of discipline on student use of and faculty members’ emphasis on deep approaches to learning as well as on the relationships between deep approaches to learning and selected educational outcomes. Using data from over 80,000 seniors and 10,000 faculty members we found that deep approaches to learning were more prevalent in Biglan’s soft, pure, and life fields compared to their counterparts. The differences were largest between soft and hard fields. We also found that seniors who engage more frequently in deep learning behaviors report greater educational gains, higher grades, and greater satisfaction with college, and that the strength of these relationships is relatively consistent across disciplinary categories.

Student Engagement, Peer Social Capital, and School Dropout Among Mexican American and Non-Latino White Students:

Abstract: Policy makers are especially concerned about persistently high dropout rates among U.S. Latinos, the largest minority population in the United States. This study used a national longitudinal databa...

The development of a conceptual model of student satisfaction with their experience in higher education

Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a conceptual model of student satisfaction with their higher education (HE) experience, based on the identification of the variable determinants of student perceived quality and the impact of those variables on student satisfaction and/or dissatisfaction with the overall student experience. The paper will also identify those determinants most likely to have either a positive or negative impact on subsequent student loyalty behaviours.Design/methodology/approach – This paper reports the results of a study of 163 undergraduate students at Liverpool John Moores University in the UK, which utilised Critical Incident Technique (CIT) as the method that encouraged the recording of situations that the students themselves perceive as critical incidents. It is envisaged that these situations have occurred in their experience of HE teaching, learning and assessment and their experience of other university ancillary service aspects, i.e. within and beyond the classr...

Have You Facebooked Astin Lately? Using Technology to Increase Student Involvement

Abstract: This chapter explores Facebook.com's current and potential uses for increasing college student involvement. Ideas based on Astin's model of student involvement provide a framework for discussion.

Interplay between personal goals and classroom goal structures in predicting student outcomes: A multilevel analysis of person-context interactions.

Abstract: This study examined cross-level interactions between personal goals and classroom goal structures, as well as their additive contributions to predicting math achievement, engagement, interest, effort withdrawal, and avoidance coping, using a sample of 3,943 Grade 5 students from 130 classrooms. Results of hierarchical linear modeling showed that classroom performance goal structures exacerbated (a) the negative association between personal performance-avoidance goals and engagement and (b) the positive relations of personal performance-avoidance goals to effort withdrawal and avoidance coping. Moreover, both classroom performance goal structures and personal performance-avoidance goals had maladaptive patterns of relations to outcomes at their respective levels of analysis, whereas classroom mastery goal structures and personal mastery goals showed adaptive relations. Our findings underscore the importance of a multilevel interactionist perspective in understanding achievement motivation and making recommendations for educational practices.

A Phenomenographic Investigation of Teacher Conceptions of Student Engagement in Learning

Abstract: Internationally, educational stakeholders are concerned with the high levels of student disengagement, evidenced by early school leaving, poor student behaviour, and low levels of academic achievement. The solution, student engagement, is a contested concept, theorised in a variety of different ways within academic literature. To further understand this concept, a phenomenographic study was conducted to map secondary school teachers’ conceptions of student engagement. Six qualitatively different ways of understanding student engagement were found. This research indicates that teachers do not hold similar understandings of what student engagement means. If the concept of engagement is to become educationally fruitful, the term must be more explicitly defined in educational research and government policy documents to promote shared understandings amongst stakeholder groups.

POSITION PAPER Work engagement: An emerging concept in occupational health psychology

Abstract: This position paper introduces the emerging concept of work engagement: a positive, fulfilling, affectivemotivational state of work-related well-being that is characterized by vigour, dedication, and absorption. Although there are different views of work engagement, most scholars agree that engaged employees have high levels of energy and identify strongly with their work. The most often used instrument to measure engagement is the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, a self-report instrument that has been validated in many countries across the world. Research on engagement has investigated how engagement differs from related concepts (e.g., workaholism, organizational commitment), and has focused on the most important predictors of work engagement. These studies have revealed that engagement is a unique concept that is best predicted by job resources (e.g., autonomy, supervisory coaching, performance feedback) and personal resources (e.g., optimism, self-efficacy, self-esteem). Moreover, the first studies have shown that work engagement is predictive of job performance and client satisfaction. The paper closes with an account of what we do not know about work engagement, and offers a brief research agenda for future work.

Further evidence of an engagement-achievement paradox among U.S. high school students.

Abstract: Achievement, engagement, and students’ quality of experience were compared by racial and ethnic group in a sample of students (N = 586) drawn from 13 high schools with diverse ethnic and socioeconomic student populations. Using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM), 3,529 samples of classroom experiences were analyzed along with self-reported grades. Similarities and differences in achievement, engagement, and quality of experience among white, black, Latino, and Asian students were examined. The most marked differences found were between black and white students. Consistent with several previous studies, an engagement–achievement paradox was found in which black students reported higher engagement, intrinsic motivation, and affect in classrooms, but lower GPA relative to white students. A similar engagement–achievement paradox was found for students from low SES communities compared to those from high SES communities. Analyses also revealed racial and ethnic differences in the relationship of engagement with on-task behavior and contextual factors. Being on-task when in classrooms had a more positive effect on the engagement of black students relative to white students. The contextual effect of being in school versus home or in public on engagement was also more positive for black students than white students. Contextual factors and measurement issues are emphasized in the interpretation of findings and suggestions for future research.

Marketing for Higher Education: A Relationship Marketing Approach

Abstract: Retaining students is becoming increasingly important for institutions offering higher education. Thus, ideas from relationship marketing (RM) should be of great interest to university and college officials entrusted with student enrollment and retention. The RM approach means that great importance is attached to the creation of student value. The value proposition to students should match their needs. The creation of value should be regarded as an ongoing process over the lifetime of the relationship. Student surveys should be carried out and analyzed thoroughly in order to identify key success factors for student value and student loyalty. This study is based on a research model in which loyalty is the ultimate variable. Path coefficients of direct and indirect drivers of loyalty are estimated by way of a structural equation modeling approach, and implications for decision makers and further research are discussed.

The Effort–Outcome Gap: Differences for African American and Hispanic Community College Students in Student Engagement and Academic Achievement

Abstract: Little in higher education seems more intractable than the access and achievement gaps between ethnic groups. White students consistently outdistance African Americans and Hispanics in both enrollment and academic performance (Bailey, Jenkins, & Leinbach, 2005; Cook & Cordova, 2006; Price, 2004). African American and Hispanic college students typically exhibit greater academic risk than their White counterparts; they are more likely to be first in their families to attend college (Bailey et al., 2005; Nunez & Cuccaro-Alamin, 1998), they are more likely to begin college academically under-prepared and in need of financial assistance, they are more likely to juggle full-time work and family responsibilities with their studies (Horn & Premo, 1995), and they are more likely to confront institutional and cultural barriers (Harris & Kayes, 1996; Rendon, 1994; Zamani, 2000). They also perform below their non-minority peers academically in terms of grades, persistence, and goal completion (Harvey, 2001; Price, 2004; Swail, 2003). Despite the negative relationships between minority status and academic performance, African American and Hispanic students report being more engaged in college than their White peers (CCSSE, 2005; Hu & Kuh, 2002; Swigart & Murrell, 2001). Student engagement represents the effort, both in time and energy, students commit to educationally purposeful activities as well as the institutional conditions that encourage students to engage in such practices (Kuh, 2001). A large body of evidence highlights the positive effect that student engagement has on desired outcomes in college (Astin, 1993a, 1993b; Chickering & Gamson, 1987; Kuh, Kinzie, Schuh, & Whitt, 2005; NSSE, 2000, 2003; Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Recent studies suggest that engagement may be particularly important for minority and academically underprepared first-year college students (Cruce, Wolniak, Seifert, & Pascarella, 2006; Kuh, Kinzie, Cruce, Shoup, & Gonyea, 2007). The primary aim of the study is to understand the relationships between minority status and student engagement and minority status and academic outcomes in two-year colleges. Specifically, this study seeks to determine whether students from various racial and ethnic groups attending two-year colleges differ in the amount of time and energy they devote to educationally effective practices and to determine the extent to which this investment, net of the effect from various pre-college variables, contributes positively to desired outcomes. The focus of this examination is limited to community college students, who as a group are more likely to be in the ethnic minority (Bailey et al.) and possess greater academic risk than their four-year peers (Horn & Nevill, 2006). While voluminous work documents the positive impact of student engagement on academic outcomes, minimal student engagement research has been conducted in community colleges, particularly that which focuses on minority student achievement and persistence (Pascarella, 1997; Townsend, Donaldson, & Wilson, 2004). Contributions to understanding the engagement-outcome relationship for African American and Hispanic students attending community college, therefore, have important implications for educational leaders and policy experts concerned with eliminating the racial disparities in educational attainment. Racial Disparities in Educational Attainment One of the most unrelenting challenges confronting higher education is a participation and achievement gap between ethnic groups. For example, U.S. Census Bureau data indicate 60.6% of Asian and 42.8% of White, compared to 32.7% of African American and 24.8% of Hispanic, 18- to 24-year-olds were enrolled in degree-granting institutions in 2005. The National Center for Education Statistics reports that between 2001 and 2003, an average of 66.4% of White students transitioned to college immediately after completing high school in contrast to only 57. …

A multilevel perspective on gender in classroom motivation and climate: Potential benefits of male teachers for boys?

Abstract: Are boys better motivated by male than female teachers in high school math, science, and English classes, and can these differences be explained by classroom climate? Using a cross-classified multilevel model with 5 levels (school, teacher, class, student, subject), the authors found little or no support for this contention. In general (except in terms of anxiety and persistence), girls were better motivated than boys, and these differences tended to generalize over student age and school subject in classes taught by both male and female teachers. Student perceptions of classroom climate were more specific to the group of students within a particular class than to the teacher who taught the class and had moderate to large effects on the motivation of individual students. The surprisingly small amounts of variance explained in motivation by student gender and age, teacher gender, school subject, and their interactions support a gender invariance and similarities model but not theoretical predictions based on gender stereotype, gender intensification, and gender matching perspectives.

Lecture absenteeism among students in higher education: a valuable route to understanding student motivation

Abstract: The reasons associated with lecture absenteeism among student groups could shed significant light on student motivation levels and orientations in university settings. Paying attention to the rationales for lecture absence provided by students themselves could also help institutions to diagnose levels of student engagement and respond in appropriate ways. This study demonstrates these assertions by engaging in a critical analysis of the evidence linking lecture attendance and academic performance, using a qualitative analysis of student accounts of their absenteeism. It argues that innovative approaches to higher education would benefit from the extension and development of this kind of inquiry.

Longitudinal effects of student mobility on three dimensions of elementary school engagement.

Abstract: Working within the developmental science research framework, this study sought to capture a dynamic and complex view of student mobility. Second- through fifth-grade data (N = 1,003, predominantly Caucasian) were drawn from a longitudinal study, and growth curve analyses allowed for the examination of mobility effects within the context of other factors that put children at risk, including behavior problems and family stress. School changes predicted declines in academic performance and classroom participation but not positive attitude toward school. Time-varying factors such as peer acceptance and teacher support had a positive influence on the growth trajectories of child outcomes. Additionally, teacher support had a particularly strong influence on positive attitudes toward school among children who had more school changes.

The role of active learning in college student persistence

Abstract: The primary goal of this study was to examine the impact of active learning on a student's level of overall social integration and perception of his or her institution's commitment to student welfare.

Discerning direct and mediated effects of ecological structures and processes on adolescents' educational outcomes.

Abstract: This short-term longitudinal study examined the relations among family and school characteristics, family-level processes (youth perceptions of parent-adolescent interactions), school-level processes (youth perceptions of school belonging, school climate), adolescents' school engagement, and later academic performance. Participants were an ethnically diverse, urban sample of 1,120 9th-grade students (M age = 14.6 years). The structural characteristics of families and schools influenced the proximal processes that occurred therein, and these proximal processes, in turn, influenced students' proximal (i.e., engagement) and distal educational outcomes (i.e., grades in school). Moreover, the structural characteristics of families and schools influenced proximal and distal outcomes indirectly through their influence on the proximal processes. The multimediated ecological model suggested that intervening at the process level may be a successful means of improving both adolescents' engagement in school and their subsequent school performance.