Assessment of students' situation-specific classroom engagement by an InSitu Instrument

Abstract

The present study aims to expand the current understanding of engagement by examining variations in students' situation-specific engagement in lower secondary school. In addition, the validity and reliability of a new situation-specific InSitu Instrument were examined. The sample consisted of 1,809 Finnish students attending Grade 7. The students filled in mobile ratings on their lesson-specific engagement after lessons. Furthermore, they answered questionnaires concerning their overall engagement, achievement beliefs, and task values in math and literacy. The results showed substantial variation within and between students in situational engagement. A five-factor structure was identified for the InSitu ratings: 1) behavioral engagement, 2) emotional engagement, 3) competence experiences, 4) disaffection, and 5) help seeking. Correlational analyses showed moderate to high associations between situation-specific engagement and student engagement, achievement beliefs, and task values. The findings provide support for the InSitu Instrument as a valid and reliable tool for investigating situation-specific engagement in the classroom.

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

“…The InSitu Instrument has been validated in the Finnish context (see Vasalampi et al ., ), and confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) verified the expected five‐factor solution for the used data.…”

“…The video‐recorded lessons were coded for teacher–student interactions using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System—Secondary (CLASS‐S; Pianta, Hamre, & Mintz, ) observational tool. At the end of each video‐recorded lesson, the students completed self‐ratings of their situation‐specific engagement using the mobile‐based In Situations (InSitu) Instrument (Lerkkanen, Vasalampi, & Nurmi, ; Vasalampi et al ., ). The data for the present study contained a total of 1,647 time‐stamped ratings of students’ situation‐specific engagement ( M = 2.32 ratings for a student, range 1–9, SD = 1.56).…”

“…Students’ self‐rated situation‐specific engagement was measured at the end of each video‐recorded lesson. The ratings were made using a mobile application of the In Situations ( InSitu ) Instrument (Lerkkanen et al ., ; Vasalampi et al ., ). The application was pre‐programmed into smartphones, which were used only for research purposes.…”

“…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 ., ).…”

“…In line with propositions concerning situational variations and the malleability of engagement (e.g., Martin et al ., ; Vasalampi et al ., ), the TTI framework acknowledges that the teacher–student interaction may vary from one lesson to another (Curby et al ., ; Pianta, Hamre, & Mintz, ). However, the vast majority of previous research examining links between engagement and teacher–student interactions has employed student ratings of overall or general student engagement, and very few studies have contained parallel assessments of teacher–student interactions and students’ engagement in a particular lesson.…”