Student Engagement in U.S. Urban High School Mathematics and Science Classrooms: Findings on Social Organization, Race, and Ethnicity

Abstract

This paper reports results of intensive field work in urban high school mathematics and science classrooms based on research with students attending eight high schools located in large, disparate urban sites across the U.S. During the course of our observations and interviews we recorded students' activities as well as their impressions of classroom processes over the course of a week in each classroom using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM). ESM allows students to record information about their classroom experiences at intervals during daily mathematics and science classroom lessons. We measured levels of student engagement and examined relationships between student engagement and an array of predictors. We take a social organizational approach to interpreting classroom processes, examining the extent to which classroom activities influence student perception of class and communication among students and how these intervening factors affect student engagement during on-going classroom activities. Results suggest that there is variation between group members' reactions to classroom activities. Specifically, as an example, Latino Students in Chicago, Miami and El Paso were far more engaged and responsive to classroom lessons during the time they spent in small problem-solving groups during class. Student Engagement in High School Mathematics and Science.

Cultivating the social–emotional imagination in gifted education: insights from educational neuroscience

“…Traditionally, high school students have spent more than 75% of their class time engaged in individual, noninteractive, outwardly focused tasks, like listening to lectures, taking notes, doing homework, or taking tests, while they spent less than 15% of their class time in interactive, engaging, informative, openended group discussions or group work. 7,33 Similar results have been found in traditional middle schools. 34 The EAN supports the working memory abilities 10 and cognitive control 35 that make it possible for students to engage in those activities for the majority of their time.…”

“…We argue for a need to shift the school culture to accommodate creative expression. Traditionally, high school students have spent more than 75% of their class time engaged in individual, noninteractive, outwardly focused tasks, like listening to lectures, taking notes, doing homework, or taking tests, while they spent less than 15% of their class time in interactive, engaging, informative, open‐ended group discussions or group work . Similar results have been found in traditional middle schools .…”

“…It may be that helping students shift strategically and appropriately from knowledge gathering and action orientation to modes of intentional reflectiveness could be useful for promoting the long‐term development of giftedness. Evidence is already accumulating for the power of reflectiveness in promoting success in the sciences, which requires expansive, innovative thinking in the service of bettering the human condition, but is often taught with a narrow, task‐oriented focus …”

The Measurement of Student Engagement: A Comparative Analysis of Various Methods and Student Self-report Instruments

“…Experience sampling (ESM) is another technique that has been used to assess student engagement in the classroom (Shernoff, Csikszentmihalyi, Schneider, & Shernoff, 2003 ;Shernoff & Schmidt, 2008 ;Uekawa, Borman, & Lee, 2007 ;Yair, 2000 ) . ESM methods grew out of research on "fl ow," a high level of engagement where individuals are so deeply absorbed in a task that they lose awareness of time and space (Csikszentmihalyi, 1990 ) .…”

The Role of Agent Age and Gender for Middle-Grade Girls

“…Researchers in culturally diverse teaching have argued that ethnic-minority students' culture of learning often favored working together more than individual effort (Gay, 2000). For example, Latino students showed the highest level of engagement in mathematics learning when they were asked to work with their peers in a group but a much lower level of engagement when they were asked to work alone (Uekawa, Borman, & Lee, 2007). In the present study, a peer-like agent might trigger a sense of collaboration.…”