Group Topic: Importance of Classroom Engagement for Academic Achievement

Sub Topic: Characteristics of Student Engagement

Part A: Literature Review

Student engagement can be defined as the level of attention, interest and passion a student

shows when they are learning or being taught (Skinner, Marchand, Furrer & Kindermann,

2008). Research has shown student engagement to be an important factor in successful

educational outcomes and also in avoiding the difficulties of adolescence (Engels et al., 2016).

There are many ways in which student engagement can be measured and many characteristics

which influence student engagement. The purpose of this critical review is to explore literature

on student engagement and identify the main themes which have been expressed throughout.

The following themes have been identified as influences of student engagement in schools;

motivation, teacher-student relationships, teacher instruction, expectations and peers.

Motivation

Motivation is a common theme in the literature related to student engagement. Student

motivation and engagement have been identified as important in the learning process. Skinner

et al., (2008) recognised the strong link between student motivation, engagement and academic

achievement. Literature has also identified that it is important for teachers to design tasks that

motivate their students by meeting the students’ interests (Krause, Bochner & Duschesne,

2006). Saeed and Zyngier (2012) further explored the impact of intrinsic and extrinsic

motivation on student engagement. Intrinsic motivation is defined as personally rewards

whereas extrinsic motivation is to either earn a reward or avoid punishment (Saeed & Zyngier,

2012). The study identified that intrinsic motivation had a greater impact on student

engagement. This is important for teachers to understand when trying to engage students.

1
Teachers must select activities that make students feel personally rewarded, which will increase

student motivation and their engagement in the content (Saeed & Zyngier, 2012). Engaging

student through motivational means will also increase students’ academic achievement.

Teachers are able to provide a more successful learning environment for students once they

understand the relationship between student motivation, engagement and learning (Marsh,

2000).

Teacher-student Relationship

Teacher-student relationships have been described as an important influence in student

engagement. Teachers attitudes towards students have strong effects on student’s engagement

and academic achievement. Skinner and Belmont (1993) demonstrated that teacher interactions

with students influenced student’s behaviour and engagement. They also identified that when

students feel the teacher is warm, caring and responsive of their needs students become happier

and more enthusiastic about the content. Roorda, Kooment, Split and Oort (2011) identified

that the connection between positive teacher-student relationships and student engagement was

stronger in secondary school compared to primary schools. Engels et al., (2016) studied the

transactional association between engagement, peers and teacher-student relationships in

secondary education. They showed that positive teacher-student relationships had higher levels

of engagement whereas more negative teacher-student relationships have lower levels of

student engagement (Engels et al., 2016). These are all important points for teachers to consider

when forming relationships with students, these relationships often form the foundation and

have a strong influence on how well a student will achieve.

Teacher Instruction

Teachers judgements towards students have a considerable impact on students’ engagement

2
and learning experiences (Kaiser, Retelsdorf, Sudkamp & Moller, 2013). Most of the

instructional decisions made by teachers are based on their own subjective beliefs of the

student’s achievement (Kaiser et al., 2013). The difficulty of work and a teacher’s interactions

with students is based on teachers’ judgements and this influences a student’s engagement in

the class and academic outcomes, if the teacher’s judgements are wrong about the student they

can negatively impact their achievement (Ready & Wright, 2011). Kaiser et al., (2013) studied

the accuracy of teacher judgements of student engagement and achievement. The study found

that teacher’s judgements of student engagement were often less accurate than the teacher’s

judgements of academic achievement in field experiments, this could be because teachers were

gauging engagement of students from the proportion of questions they voluntarily answered.

This is a limitation of the study as there is more to student engagement than just volunteering

to answer a question. As previously explored if students feel like they have a negative

relationship with a teacher they may be less likely to engage in the content and less likely to

participate in class discussions.

Expectations

The expectation teachers have of students impacts on student engagement and learning

outcomes. Rosenthal and Jacobson (1968) first described the effect teacher expectations have

on students’ academic achievement and engagement. They expressed that when teachers have

high expectations for student’s, academic achievement will increase as opposed to when there

are low expectations and academic achievement decreases (Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968). It

has been demonstrated that academic achievement and engagement go hand in hand and are

strongly influenced by teacher expectations (Archambault, Janosz & Chaouinard, 2012).

Timperley and Phillips (2003) explored the expectations teachers have for students and how

these then form the goals of which the teacher designs their classroom to meet only those

3
achievements for students. If a teacher wants to increase the engagement and achievement of

students they should first look at the expectations they set for students and if they are aligned

with the student’s ability level.

Peers

Peers have also been show to play a role in student engagement. Engels et al., (2016) explored

the relationship peer status has on student engagement. They found that students with greater

popularity were less engaged than students with lower popularity. This was in line with their

expectations and explained that more popular students may express to be less engaged to

maintain their higher status (Engels et al., 2016). This view is supported in literature with

studies exploring the social value of effort and showing that students were more reluctant to

show themselves as hard working and effortful to higher status peers than they were teachers

(Juvonen & Murdock, 1995). However, literature also shows that positive peer interactions can

be beneficial to students’ academic achievement and engagement in school (Hakimzadeh,

Besharat, Khaleghinezhad & Jahromi, 2016). Peer support between students in their learning

may help them become more engaged in the content and this then increases student academic

outcomes.

Research into student engagement, what influences and how it impacts academic achievement

is important for teachers as it sets the ground work and effects their own pedagogical

approaches. This review identified influential themes of student engagement through current

literature. The literature identified motivation, teacher-student relationships, teacher

instruction, expectations and peers as the most common influences to student engagement. This

shows the diversity of factors that have influential effects on student engagement and their

overall academic achievement. It is important to understand the factors of student engagement

4
as these play an important role in a teacher’s own reflection on what they can do to help

encourage engagement of students who may be showing signs of disaffection.

5
Part B: Data Collection Protocol

Dear Potential Participant:

I am working on a project titled ‘Importance of Classroom Engagement for Academic Achievement’ for the
class, ‘Researching Teaching and Learning 2,’ at Western Sydney University. As part of the project, I am
collecting information to help inform the design of a teacher research proposal.

Our topic has identified main themes relating to classroom engagement and academic achievement. The
purpose of this project is to develop an understanding of student engagement through the use of classroom
observations.

By signing this form, I acknowledge that:

 I have read the project information and have been given the opportunity to discuss the
information and my involvement in the project with the researcher/s.
 The procedures required for the project and the time involved have been explained to me, and
any questions I have about the project have been answered to my satisfaction.
 I consent to being observed for the purpose of this study.
 I understand that my involvement is confidential and that the information gained during this data
collection experience will only be reported within the confines of the ‘Researching Teaching and
Learning 2’ unit, and that all personal details will be de-identified from the data.
 I understand that I can withdraw from the project at any time, without affecting my relationship
with the researcher/s, now or in the future.

By signing below, I acknowledge that I am 18 years of age or older, or I am a full-time university student
who is 17 years old.

Signed: __________________________________

Name: __________________________________

Date: __________________________________

By signing below, I acknowledge that I am the legal guardian of a person who is 16 or 17 years old, and
provide my consent for the person’s participation.

Signed: __________________________________

Name: __________________________________

Date: __________________________________

6
 Observational Field Notes

Focus: Student Engagement

Teacher’s Name: Date: Period:

Class: Number of Students:

Topic: Class Layout: [See diagram]

Time Description Interpretation

7
Part C: Data Collection Protocol Explanation

Classroom observations have been selected as the data collection protocol for this study. This

protocol was designed to develop a better understanding of student engagement in classrooms.

Open ended observational data will be collected during this study, this means natural

behaviours are observed and recorded (Kervin, Vialle, Howard, Herrington & Okely, 2016).

This type of observation protocol will allow for the collection of setting, people and activities

as the description. Observations are easy to complete within the classroom setting, especially

if there is someone else taking the field notes while the teacher is teaching (Richards & Farrell,

2011). During this study, observational data will measure student engagement in the classroom.

This will be done by observing how students and teacher interact to determine their relationship

and the level of attention and interest students show to what is being taught, which have been

identified as factors in student engagement (Engels et al., 2016).

Prior to the commencement of the study all participant including teachers, students and parents

of students will be given a consent form to sign. This should be returned if they wish to

participate in the study. The consent form will explain the study and how the result will be

used, this is in line with ethics principles (Kervin et al., 2016). All observational data collected

will be used for research purposes only, to gain a deeper understanding of student engagement

and help in the development of appropriate teaching and learning strategies. Anyone not

wishing to participate in the study will not be observed during the observation of lessons, this

will be noted on the seating chart so everyone is aware of which students are not participating.

This is a limitation of the protocol as some of the information that will be observed in the class

from non-participating students will not be able to be recorded (Kervin et al., 2016).

8
The observational protocol has been designed to allow the observer space to write the time of

events, the description and also a section for interpretation of the observations (Richards &

Farrell, 2011). The observations should include student and teacher interactions, teacher

encouragement of students and also the seating chart to show relationships between peers and

engagement. These observations correspond to the main themes identified in the literature and

also contribute to the overarching topic of the importance of engagement for student academic

achievement.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics of engagement and relate these to

students’ academic achievement. Literature has explored the effect engagement has on student

academic achievement, identifying when students are less engaged they are less likely to reach

their learning outcomes (Engels et al., 2016). The use of research helps to inform teaching

strategies and also allows for reflection. The use of observation techniques in this study allows

for teachers to identify the level of engagement students have at different points during the

lesson and relate these back to the student’s academic achievement, which supports the

overarching topic of this study. Teachers can then use this to address issues of engagement

including the themes that were identified in the literature review.

9
Reference

Archambault, I., Janosz, M., & Chouinard, R. (2012). Teacher beliefs as predictors of

adolescents’ cognitive engagement and achievement in mathematics. The Journal of

Educational Research, 105(1), 319-328. doi: 10.1080/00220671.2011.629694

Engels, M. C., Colpin, H., Van Leeuwen, K., Bijttebier, P., Van Den Noortgate, W., Claes, S.,

…Verscheren, K. (2016). Behavioural engagement, peer status and teacher-student

relationships in adolescence: A longitudinal study on reciprocal influences. Journal of

Youth and Adolescence, 45(6), 1192-1207. doi: 10.1007/s10964-016-0414-5

Juvonen, J., & Murdock, T. B. (1995). Grade-level differences in the social value of effort:

Implications for self-presentation tactics of early adolescents. Child Development,

66(6), 1694-1705. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1995.tb00969

Kaiser, J., Retelsdorf, J., Sudkamp, A., Moller, J. (2013). Achievement and engagement: How

student characteristics influence teacher judgments. Learning and Instruction, 28(1),

73-84. doi: 10.1016/j.learninstruc.2013.06.001

Kervin, L., Vialle, W., Howard, S., Herrington, J., & Okely, T. (2016). Research for Educators

(2nd ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage Learning

Krause, L.L., Bochner, S., & Duschesne, S. (2006). Educational psychology for learning and

teaching (2nd ed.). VIC. Australia: Thompson.

Marsh, C. (2000). Handbook for beginning teachers (2nd ed.). Australia: Pearson Education.

Ready, D. D., & Wright, D. L. (2011). Accuracy and inaccuracy in teachers’ perceptions of

young children’s cognitive abilities: The role of child background and classroom

context. American Educational Research Journal, 48(1), 335-360. doi:

10.3102/0002831210374874

Richards, J. C., & Farrell, S. C. (2011). Practice teaching: A reflective approach. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

10
Roorda, D. L., Koomen, H. M. Y., Spilt, J. L., & Oort, F. J. (2011). The influence of affective

teacher-student relationships on students’ school engagement and achievement: A

meta-analytic approach. Review of Educational Research, 81(4), 493-529. doi:

10.3102/0034654311421793

Rosenthal, R., & Jacobson, L. (1968). Pygmalion in the classroom. The Urban Review, 3(1),

16-20. doi: 10.1007/BF02322211

Saeed, S., & Zyngier, D. (2012). How motivation influences student engagement: A qualitative

case study. Journal of Education and Learning, 1(2), 252-267. doi:

10.5539/jel/v1n2p252

Skinner, E., Marchand, G., Furrer, C., & Kindermann, T. (2008). Engagement and disaffection

in the classroom: Part of a larger motivational dynamic. Journal of Educational

Psychology, 100(4), 765-781. doi: 10.1037/a0012840

Timperley, H., & Phillips, G. (2003). Changing and sustaining teachers’ expectations through

professional development in literacy. Teaching and Teacher Education, 19(6), 627-

642. doi: 10.1016/s0742-051x(03)00058-1

11