Students’ engagement profiles in mathematics according to learning environment dimensions: Developing an evidence base for best practice in mathematics education

Abstract

The Best Practice in Mathematics Education project was funded by the Australian Office of the Chief Scientist, to examine promotion of students' learning, engagement and aspirations in this core learning domain. We draw upon cross-sectional survey data from 551 students in grades three to nine to examine how students' mathematics engagement relates to key dimensions of their learning climate (mastery or performance focused classrooms), teacher enthusiasm, and school caring. Engagement is known to be associated with positive school outcomes and influenced by environmental factors. Less known is whether, and the extent to which, students have different profiles of engagement across component dimensions (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004); and, how profiles may differ according to experienced environment dimensions. We first develop profiles of adolescents' behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement using multilevel latent class analysis, educing three profiles of 'engaged', 'compliant', and 'disengaged' students, who systematically differed on experienced environmental factors. Mastery focused classrooms, enthusiastic teachers and caring school environment were experienced most by engaged, and least by disengaged students; performance focused

Adolescents’ Motivational Profiles in Mathematics and Science: Associations With Achievement Striving, Career Aspirations and Psychological Wellbeing

“…The bulk of literature has been in relation to mathematics because it was identified as a “critical filter” (Sells, 1980) limiting girls’ and women’s access to certain high-status and high-income fields of education and career. Gendered mathematics values and ability beliefs predict advanced participation over and above achievement background, for mathematical enrolments (Updegraff et al, 1996; Simpkins et al, 2012; Watt et al, 2012) and career aspirations (Watt et al, 2012), as well as science enrolment intentions (Ethington, 1991; Atwater et al, 1995), scientific career aspirations (Watt et al, 2017a, b), and pursuit of a science career in adulthood (Farmer et al, 1999). Science expectancies and values (including costs) predicted planned completion of a STEM major among college students (Perez et al, 2014).…”

Commentary: Bridging student engagement research and practice

“…All in all, the findings from the Watt et al (2017) study suggest that student engagement is a highly complex and contingent phenomenon. It is complex because it varies among different sub-populations of students.…”

“…Several operational views of engagement are present in the SPI engagement articles. These views depict engagement as: (a) a state of experience that facilitates student learning (Shernoff, Ruzek, & Sinha, 2017); (b) a behavioral variable that is influenced by certain kinds and degrees of student motivation (e.g., Martin, Martin, & Evans, 2017); and (c) an integrative, trait-based construct that subsumes motivation and other engagement-relevant concepts (e.g., Watt, Carmichael, & Callingham, 2017).…”

“…In addition to modeling these profiles, the Watt et al (2017) study examined each profile's relationship to several known correlates of engagement, such as students' perceptions of their classroom environment, as well as important demographic variables such as student age and gender. These analyses revealed that students in the 'Engaged' profile were typically younger, and they also enjoyed greater access to mastery-oriented classrooms and enthusiastic teachers.…”

A the Functionality of the Middle Value of the Indonesian Version of Emotional Learning Instrument

“…Some research on emotions in relation to classroom environment is mostly concentrated on student anxiety. (Watt, Carmichael, & Callingham, 2017). The nature of emotional learning that influences how behavior is carried out leads to a learning environment or behavioral responses that appear on different time scales (Lowe, 2014).…”