student engagement college of education and professional studies (ceps)

Student Engagement

College of Education and Professional Studies(CEPS)

Chapter 1 – What does student engagement mean? Student engagement is a process and a product that is experienced on a continuum and results from the synergistic interaction between motivation and active learning.


Pedagogies of engagement… There is a need for new pedagogies of engagement that will turn out resourceful, engaged workers and citizens that are needed in society.

Russ Edgerton (1997)

In 21st century learning, engagement is at the foundation of Edgerton’s taxonomy: “Learning begins with student engagement.

Shulman (2002)


Students know about chemistry by reading and listening to lectures, but to really understand chemistry, students need to engage in the task that chemists perform. Problem-based learning,collaborative learning, and undergraduate research are pedagogies of engagement.

Edgerton , 1997


The words that describe student engagement are…

Passion and ExcitementBarkley, 2009

Student engagement is the product of motivation and active learning. It is a product rather than a sum because it will not occur if either element is missing.

Barkley, 2010

Combining motivation and active learning promote engagement. Yet, some are pushing for more from students. They want students to be truly transformed by their educational experiences.


Transformational Learning Jack Mezirow is the father of Transformational Learning. Work was published in 1981, 1994, and 1997. Transformational learning is defined as learning that induces more far-reaching change than other kinds of learning, especially learning experiences, which shape the learner and produce a significant impact, or paradigm shift that affects the learner's subsequent experiences.


Instructor characteristics and roles, which facilitate transformational learning 1. Encourage students to reflect on and share their feelings and thoughts in

class. 2. Be holistically oriented, aware of body, mind, and spirit in the learning

process. 3. Become transcendent of his own beliefs and accepting of others' beliefs. 4. Cultivate awareness of alternate ways of learning. 5. Establish an environment characterized by trust and care. 6. Facilitate sensitive relationships among the participants. 7. Demonstrate ability to serve as an experienced mentor reflecting on his

own journey. 8. Help students question reality in ways that promote shifts in their

worldview.


Student Characteristics and roles, which facilitate transformational learning 1. Students must be free to determine their own reality, as opposed to

social realities defined by others or by cultural institutions. 2. Students must be ready for and open to change. 3. Those with a wider variety of life experiences, including prior stressful

life events, are likely to experience more transformation. 4. Cultivate the ability to transcend past contexts of learning and

experience. 5. Students must be willing and able to integrate critical reflection into

their school work and personal life. 6. Students must be able to access both rational and affective mental

functioning. 7. Have sufficient maturity to deal with paradigm shifts and material which

differs from their current beliefs.


Course content and instructional activities and environments to facilitate transformational Learning

1. Critical reflection, 2. Rational discourse, 3. Constructivist approach to course design and instructional objectives, 4. Inquiries into the origins and destinies of individual existence, 5. Mind exploration (dreams, out-of-body, near death experience,

meditation, altered states of consciousness, hypnosis), 6. The mysteries of human suffering and purpose, 7. Paradigms of consciousness and healing from other cultures (Chinese

medicine, shamanism, Yoga, etc.), 8. Guided imagery, 9. Sensory awareness development (Feldenkrais, hypnosis, etc.),


Course content and instructional activities and environments to facilitate transformational Learning (continued)

10. Dance and movement, 11. Breath work, 12. Touch (giving and receiving), 13. Atmosphere of openness, safety, and emotional support, 14. Instructors and students have full information and are free from

coercion, 15. All students have equal opportunity to assume various roles, 16. Students can become critically reflective of assumptions, 17. Instructors and students are empathetic and good listeners, and are

willing to search for common ground or a synthesis of different points of view.


Professional challenges and ethical considerations for instructors facilitating transformational learning

1. Transference and counter-transference among students and instructor, 2. Confidentiality, 3. Sexual attraction, 4. Cognitive conflict, 5. Repressed memories emerging into consciousness creating stress, 6. Burnout and intensity beyond the student's ability to cope, 7. Appropriate supervision with minimal interference in the process, 8. Conflict between students, 9. Code of ethics for the classroom environment,


Professional challenges and ethical considerations for instructors facilitating transformational learning (Continued)

10. Inappropriate touch, 11. Precipitating transformational learning in a learner who is not prepared

or does not fully understand its possible consequences, 12. Providing adequate transformational learning to students who are eager

and receptive to personal change and evolution, 13. Is an instructor qualified to decide which, among a learner's beliefs,

should be exposed to transformation, 14. There can be a fine line between education and therapeutic

intervention; should a teacher function as therapist to his students?


• Transformative learning occurs when students are challenged intensely, creating the kind of growth as described by Perry (n.d.). He observed that most freshmen enter college dualists.

• A dualists believes there are clear objectives with right or wrong answers.

• A goal college is to help students move beyond dualists thinking.

• Eventually students recognize that there may be multiple answers to a question.


Learning Theory Bibliography

1. Bache, C. M. (n.d.). 2. Baumgartner, L. M. (2001). 3. Clark, M. C. (1993). 4. Cranton, P. (1994). 5. Daloz, L. (1986). 6. Daloz, L.A. (1999). 7. Dirkx, J. M. (1997).


8. Imel, S. (1998). 9. Kroth, M., & Boverie, P. (2000). 10. Mezirow, J. D. (1981). 11. Mezirow, J. (1991). 12. Mezirow, J (1997). 13. Roberts, T. B (1989). 14. Taylor, E. W. (1998).

http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/references.html

http://www.lifecircles-inc.com/Learningtheories/references.html

Motivation


Engagement and Motivation

Motivation is a theoretical construct to explain the reason or reasons we engage in particular behavior.

Motivation to learn is an acquired competence developed through an individual’s cumulative experience with learning situations.

Brophy, 2004Behaviorist and needs theories depict motivation as reactive to pressures, either from extrinsic rewards or internal needs.


Expectancy x Value Model

The efforts that people are willing to expend on a task is the product of the degree to which they expect to be able to perform the task successfully (expectancy) and the degree to which they value the rewards as well as the opportunity to engage in performing the task itself (value).

People will not invest effort in tasks they do not enjoy and that do not lead to something they value.


Value

Student invest time in their course work for the grades, bonus points, praise, incentives such as release from work.

Some researchers see this as bribing students and shifting their focus away from valuing the task itself to valuing the consequences of task completion.

Kohn 1993


Tips and StrategiesExpect Engagement1. If a student is not engaged after your best efforts, talk to him/her privately.

Let them know that not being engaged is not an option in your class.2. Suggest the student leave the room and walk around for a few minutes to

get some blood flowing. 3. Drop the attendance requirement and tell students they can lean by

information in the library or the Internet.

It is important to know that one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch. One person not engaged can ruin the classroom environment.


An Engaging Teacher

• An instructor’s personality and behavior have a powerful impact on students’ motivation.

• Research has demonstrated that students who are not intrinsically motivated will put forth reasonable effort if they like and admire their teacher.

• Among the top 10 complaints of a teacher were, “being unhelpful and unapproachable” and “intellectual arrogance—talking down to or showing a lack of respect for students.

• Students are more likely to participate if the teacher cultivates and displays attributes such as energy, enthusiasm, passion, approachability, fairness, and optimism.


Rewards• Giving rewards must be done with considerable caution.• Seeing others receive rewards can motivate or discourage

student involvement.• Students may only work for what they are going to get.

Praise • Some students respond to praise, others do not. • Some may find it embarrassing to be singled out.• Some believe praise is manipulation of behavior


Attention to Students’ Basic Needs

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs suggest the following needs much be met before moving on to the higher-level needs.

• Physiological needs (Sleep and Thirst)• Safety needs (freedom from danger, anxiety)• Love needs (acceptance from teachers and peers)

An example of meeting students’ needs is when teaching an early morning class. In this case, engage in activities that require social action and physical movement.


Promote Student Autonomy

• Self-determination is the basic human need to have control over one’s life.

• Students are more likely to believe they are capable of achieving a particular goal if they feel they are in control of the actions required for success.

• Strategies for promoting autonomy are found on pages 85 and 86 of the textbook.


Teaching Content Worth Learning• Teachers should strive to help students achieve understanding

as oppose to simply knowing the content. • A new learning taxonomy proposed by Fink (2003) is made up

of the following categories:1. Foundational knowledge2. Application3. Integration4. Human dimension (learning about oneself and others)5. Caring (developing new interest, interests, and values)6. Learning how to learn


Integrate Goals, Activities, and Assessments

• Choose these parts of learning carefully.

• It is easier for students to see the purpose of what they are being asked to do.

• Use these to integrate a broader conceptual framework


Wiggins & McTighe’s Backward DesignA three stage approach1. Teachers determine what students should know,

understand, and be able to do.2. Teachers determine what would constitute evidence that

students have achieved the goals. Can students explain, interpret, apply, demonstrate perspective, empathize, and demonstrate self-knowledge.

3. Teacher determines the design of academic prompts, performance tasks, or projects the students should be able to engage in successfully.


Finks Significant Learning ExperiencesThe typical instructor develops a course by creating eight to 12 topics, developing a series of lectures, and deciding on the exam schedule.

Fink in (2003) proposed a 12 step course design process. These 12 steps are clustered into three phases.1. Building component parts such as identifying the learning goals,

feedback, and assessment, and teaching and learning activities2. This phase guides the instructor through processes to ensure the

course is a coherent whole.3. Instructors develop grading system, identify possible problems, and

conclude with evaluating the course and his teaching for further improvement.


Incorporate Competition Appropriately

• Young adults are accustom to competition: sports, video games, science fairs, and others.

• It is assumed that competition promotes excitement, incentive, and just plain fun to the classroom.

• There is considerable debate about this strategy • Risk of public failure• Distracts students from using their own progress as the

benchmark for learning.• Competition my feel coercive when it is mandatory.• Competition is good when everyone has a good chance of

winning.


Expect Students to Succeed

“Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.” Henry Ford

An instructor’s belief in their students and commitment to actively supporting their efforts contributes strongly to the students’ motivation and success.

If an instructor makes it know that s/he expects more, s/he is likely to get it.


Help Students Expect to Succeed

Suggested strategies for helping students expect to succeed are found on pages 91 and 92.

Try to Rebuild the Confidence of Discouraged and Disengaged Students

Suggested strategies for helping to rebuild the confidence of discouraged and disengaged students are found on pages 92 and 93.


student engagement college of education and professional studies (ceps)

Documents

active learning

learning process

collaborative learning

kinds of learning

century learning

past contexts of learning

problembased learning

new pedagogies of engagement