Student Engagement

By Claire Parker

At the end of this lesson readers will be able to…

1. Explain how emotions affect student engagement in the classroom.

2. Describe effective ways to incorporate creativity in the classroom.

3. Define Project Based Learning.

One student helping another. Having students teach each other aspects of a lesson is a great way to keep them engaged and learning.

Many educators and faculty do not realize, but a student’s emotions drastically affect his or her engagement in the classroom. Foster (2023) states, “cognitive, affective, and behavioral work together to influence an individual’s engagement” (para. 4).This means that not only does behavior affect a child’s engagement, but so does his or her cognitive and affective state.

To support Foster’s claim, Axelson and Flick (2010) discuss behavioral engagement. They state that it is “ implicitly seen as a proxy for emotional and cognitive engagement.” They digress to explain that behavior is not a valid measurement of engagement because each student is different cognitively and emotionally. Emotions affect more of a child’s attention and engagement than typically believed.

By evaluating a student’s emotions before a lesson, and their knowledge after, a teacher can gauge how much each student’s learning and engagement is affected by their emotions.

Stanford University Teaching Commons (n.d) expresses that students are more likely to answer interpretive questions because there is no exact answer to get correct or incorrect. This allows students to freely respond, without pressure of being wrong.

An example of an interpretive question/assignment would be to give each student the task to interpret and create a new story based on a reading in class. This way, they have freedom to predict, change, and write their own interpretation without the pressure of answering "correctly." Implementing lessons into something students already know is incredibly beneficial to their engagement. In agreement with Stanford, Taylor and Parsons state, “The need to explore is implicit in our desire to learn” (p. 11). They performed research that proved students need to be challenged creatively in order to find interest and pursue learning in their area.

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One highly favored form of engaging students is Project Based Learning. This is where the students complete projects on assigned topics and collect and present their research in a way that interests them. Well esteemed educator, Ferlazzo, explains, “PBL emphasizes creativity and problem-solving throughout the process” (2023, para. 3). Project Based Learning is incredibly beneficial to the student's overall development, not just knowledge of a subject.

For example, students could study which form of reading helps them retain the most information. They could conduct a project on small group reading, silent reading, read aloud from the teacher, or reading alone. This keeps them creative and engaged, while requiring them to do a significant amount reading. Foster (2023) writes that active learning is extremely beneficial to the development of thinking skills and content knowledge

In conclusion...

Student engagement is vital to the success of a classroom, but it does not rely soley on the teacher. Students need to be held responsible for their learning too. Teachers should be taught how to incorporate Project Based Learning effictively as well as different techniques to create interpretive assignments. Students just want to feel heard and understood, and allowing them to be creative with their learning provides a safe environment for that.

Review Questions:

What is BELIEVED to be the number one determining factor of a child's engagement in the classroom?

A) Behavior

B) Congnitive State

C) Emotions

D) The teacher's fun read-aloud

Your student is not participating in your class assignment. She is doodling on her paper, staring at the wall, and showing no interest in anything you say. What might be a beneficial tactic to get her engaged?

A) Ask her to come to your desk for individual work to minimize distractions

B) Call her out in front of the class to show them what not to do

C) Give her a list of facts about the lesson and have her teach it to a small group in a fun accent

D) Let her be. It's her own fault if she doesn't want to participate.

Answer: 1.A, 2.C

References

Axelson, R. D., & Flick, A. (2010). Defining student engagement. Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, 43(1), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/00091383.2011.533096

Ferlazzo, L. (2023, April 26). Student engagement can be elusive: Here’s how to help. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-student-engagement-can-be-elusive-heres-how-to-help/2023/04

Foster, S. (2023, January 23). Facilitating and assessing student engagement in the classroom. Center for Teaching & Learning. https://www.colorado.edu/center/teaching-learning/2023/01/23/facilitating-and-assessing-student-engagement-classroom

Stanford University. (n.d.). Increasing student engagement. Teaching Commons. Teachingcommons.stanford.edu. https://teachingcommons.stanford.edu/teaching-guides/foundations-course-design/learning-activities/increasing-student-engagement

Taylor, L., & Parsons, J. (2019). View of improving student engagement. Asu.edu. https://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/745/162

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