Variation in situation-specific engagement among lower secondary school students

Abstract

The majority of previous research has examined school engagement as an overall student characteristic. The present study contributes to the field by examining variation in students' situation-specific engagement from one lesson to another and by investigating situational determinants of such variation. An intensive one-week lesson-to-lesson data collection was conducted in four lower secondary school classrooms. Students rated their situation-specific engagement at the end of each lesson with a mobile-based InSitu instrument. Data comprising a total of 57 students and 1,328 ratings were analyzed with two-level hierarchical multivariate model (between students, and within students between lessons). The results indicated substantial within student variation in engagement between lessons which was predicted by school subjects. Students reported highest situational engagement and lowest disaffection in lessons of non-academic subjects. The findings extend prior literature by specifying factors affecting students' situation-specific engagement and by unraveling effects due to variation within and between students.

Teacher–student interaction and lower secondary school students’ situational engagement

“…The present study examined the relation between the of teacher–student interactions in lower secondary school, which were assessed using a widely used observational instrument, CLASS‐S, and students’ self‐ratings of situational engagement at the end of the same lessons. The relevance of this line of research can be justified based on the notion of malleability and situational variability of student engagement (Martin et al ., ; Pöysä et al ., ; Vasalampi et al ., ). Because students’ engagement can fluctuate from one lesson to another, each lesson is also a new opportunity for students to become engaged in learning and for teachers to support such engagement.…”

“…According to Fredricks et al . (), engagement is presumed to be malleable, and recent research has indicated that student engagement varies situationally from one learning situation to another (e.g., Martin et al ., ; Pöysä et al ., ; Shernoff et al ., ; Vasalampi et al ., ). Thus, in everyday learning at school, this fluctuating engagement can be shaped by factors such as structural features of the classroom and factors related to the interactions between teachers and students (Fredricks et al ., ).…”

Pre-vocational education in the curriculum: the case of Norwegian lower secondary education

“…The focus of these debates is primarily on upper secondary and tertiary education. However, there are also concerns about disengagement and alienation from school at lower levels (Pöysä et al, 2018). Policies directed at pupils in lower secondary education often include pre-vocational education.…”

Students’ observed engagement in lessons, instructional activities, and learning experiences

“…Grieco, Jowers and Bartholomew, 2009;Jarrett et al, 1998), at the class level (e.g. Pöysä et al, 2017;Barros, Silver and Stein, 2009), or reported on by teachers (e.g. Carlson et al, 2015;Barros et al, 2009) or parents (e.g.…”