Using qualitative methods to develop a survey measure of math and science engagement

Abstract

Student engagement in math and science is vital to students' academic achievement and longterm participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematic (STEM) courses and careers. In this study, we conducted in-depth interviews with 106 students from sixth to twelfth grade and 34 middle and high school teachers about how they conceptualized math and science engagement and disengagement. Our qualitative analysis of student and teacher interviews supported the multidimensional construct of engagement outlined in the academic literature. Our analysis also revealed additional indicators that have been included in prior measures of engagement less frequently. We then described how we used this qualitative information from students and teachers to develop and validate a new student self-report measure of math and science engagement.

Supporting girls’ and boys’ engagement in math and science learning: A mixed methods study

“…We assessed behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and social engagement, with the Math and Science Engagement Scales (Wang et al, ). The indicators of students' cognitive, behavioral, emotional, and social engagement in math and science were measured with items that were initially developed from the qualitative interviews (see Fredricks et al, , for more discussion). Specifically, we were interested in how students and teachers conceptualized engagement and disengagement, and used these responses to develop items in the Math and Science Engagement Scale .…”

Relationship between mathematics statistics engagement and attitudes towards statistics among undergraduate students in Malaysia

“…The term engagement can be divided into three main elements namely, cognitive, affective and behavioural. Cognitive engagement includes memorisation, deep understanding, attention, intelligence, learning strategies, persistence on tasks, information transfer skills, thoughts, perceptions and motivation [12]. In this study, cognitive engagement refers to the mental ability, memorisation, persistence in doing related tasks, motivation, as well as communication and learning strategies in learning Statistics.…”

“…In this study, cognitive engagement refers to the mental ability, memorisation, persistence in doing related tasks, motivation, as well as communication and learning strategies in learning Statistics. Affective engagement refers to the feelings, emotions, values, reactions to teachers, attitude, willingness to work, curiosity and a sense of belonging in learning [12]. In this study, affective engagement refers to the perspective on learning Statistics, positive and negative thoughts, students' learning attitude and reactions during the process of teaching and learning in a Statistics class.…”

“…Previous studies had shown a direct link between Nur Raidah the levels of engagement and academic achievement in particular subjects ( [10], [12], [13]). In other words, engagement refers to the effort and endeavour a learner is willing to spend to achieve a desired outcome.…”

“…In this study, affective engagement refers to the perspective on learning Statistics, positive and negative thoughts, students' learning attitude and reactions during the process of teaching and learning in a Statistics class. Behavioural engagement includes learning behaviour, effort, action, participation, skill, as well as following the rules and psychological control process in learning [12]. In this study, behavioural engagement refers to the positive and negative behaviours which include concentration, effort, perseverance, contribution in classroom discussions and completion of homework during the process of learning Statistics.…”