The role of perceived classroom goal structures,self-efficacy,and engagement in student science achievement

Background: Numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the factors related to science achievement. In these studies, the classroom goal structure perceptions, engagement, and self-efficacy of the students have emerged as important factors to be examined in relation to students’ science achievement.

Purpose: This study examines the relationships between classroom goal structure perception variables (motivating tasks, autonomy support, and mastery evaluation), engagement (behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and agentic engagement), self-efficacy, and science achievement.

Sample: The study participants included 744 seventh-grade students from 9 public schools in two districts of Gaziantep in Turkey.

Design and methods: Data were collected through the administration of four instruments: Survey of Classroom Goals Structures, Engagement Questionnaire, Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire, and Science Achievement Test. The obtained data were subjected to path analysis to test the proposed model.

Results: Students’ perceptions of classroom goal structures (i.e. motivating tasks, autonomy support, and mastery evaluation) were found to be significant predictors of their self-efficacy. Autonomy support was observed to be positively linked to all aspects of engagement, while motivating tasks were found to be related only to cognitive engagement. In addition, mastery evaluation was shown to be positively linked to engagement variables, except for cognitive engagement, and self-efficacy and engagement (i.e. behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement) were observed to be significant predictors of science achievement. Finally, results revealed reciprocal relations among engagement variables, except for agentic engagement.

Conclusions: Students who perceive mastery goal structures tend to show higher levels of engagement and self-efficacy in science classes. The study found that students who have high self-efficacy and who are behaviorally, emotionally, and cognitively engaged are more successful in science classes. Accordingly, it is recommended that science teachers utilize inquiry-based and hands-on science activities in science classes and focus on the personal improvement of the students. Furthermore, it is also recommended that they provide students with opportunities to make their own choices and decisions and to control their own actions in science classes.     

Teacher Perceptions of Parent Engagement at a Cyber High School

A growing number of adolescents are taking all or most of their courses online. This places a greater responsibility on parents to support and facilitate their students' learning. This case study used teacher surveys and interviews to better understand how teachers perceived and supported parents' attempts to support their online students at a single online charter school. The results indicated that teachers observed multiple ways in which parents supported their students by (a) organizing and managing students' schedules, (b) nurturing relationships and interactions, (c) monitoring and motivating student engagement, and (d) instructing students when necessary. However, teachers believed that parents could act as obstacles to their students' learning by being overly engaged in certain types of learning activities. Additional research is needed that examines parent engagement in a variety of online learning environments. Research that identifies best practices could also be especially valuable to online teachers and administrators wishing to improve the quantity and quality of parental engagement in their programs.     

Gender contentedness in aspirations to become engineers or medical doctors

Medical doctor and engineer are highly esteemed STEM professions. This study investigates academic and motivational characteristics of a sample of high school students in Thailand who aspire to become medical doctors or engineers. We used logistic regression to compare maths performance, gender typicality, gender contentedness, and maths and physics self-concepts among students with aspirations for these two professions. We found that high levels of felt gender contentedness in men had positive association with aspirations for engineering irrespective of the levels of maths or physics self-concept. We found that high levels of felt gender contentedness combined with high levels of maths or physics self-concept in women had positive associations with aspirations to become a medical doctor. These findings are evidence that student views of self are associated with uneven gendered patterns in career aspirations and have implications for the potential for future participation.     

The role of personal best (PB) and dichotomous achievement goals in students’ academic motivation and engagement: a longitudinal investigation

This study assessed the role of prior personal best goals in predicting subsequent academic motivation and engagement. A total of 1160 high school students participated in a longitudinal survey study exploring the extent to which personal best and mastery and performance (dichotomous) achievement goals predict students’ academic motivation and engagement across the course of a full academic year. Findings showed that personal best goals predicted higher motivation and engagement a year later. Along with personal best goals, mastery goals also predicted higher motivation and engagement, while the role of performance goals was either neutral or negative. These findings provide support for the contention that personal best goals are associated with higher motivation and engagement across time.     

Improving the participation and engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in business education

Most Australian universities have among their goals to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at their institutions. In the Australian higher education context, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students are seriously under-represented, particularly in business education compared to other disciplines. An understanding of why a larger proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students do not choose to study a discipline that provides promising employment opportunities, is fundamental to improving the status quo. This paper reviews the literature to identify key barriers to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students’ participation and engagement in business education. Apart from multiple general barriers to participation in higher education, factors specific to business as a profession and as an academic discipline are also considered. The paper then discusses a number of strategies Australian educational institutions could pursue when seeking to increase participation and engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in business. Drawing on the review, the paper concludes with recommendations for higher education institutional policy to further improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student participation and engagement in business studies.     

Learning through digital storytelling: exploring entertainment techniques in lecture video

Although online education is popularized, it is in a developing stage that continues to struggle with communicating and engaging with students. The question remains on how students can be better engaged in online educational materials that are presented in asynchronous media, especially in lecture videos. Thus, using engagement theory, the present study explored how online lecture videos can be improved by incorporating entertainment education. Using a public lecture video found on YouTube, an online survey (N = 133) was conducted to identify digital storytelling techniques and their effects. Results revealed that these techniques that are often utilized in entertainment became meaningful components to increase student engagement and learning outcomes. However, they can also negatively affect instructor credibility, which could suggest the need to increase instructors’ skills. The implications for the development of lecture videos using entertainment and its potential to positively impact online education are discussed.     

Modelling Experiential Knowledge Ethically: An Artefact‐Based Approach to Visually Documenting a Participatory Design Process with Young People

This article contributes to the growing debate within art and design education research about the role, legitimacy and accountability of artefacts in the creation and generation of knowledge. I present an artefact‐based approach to visually documenting and disseminating my doctoral practice‐based fieldwork that protected the anonymity of the participants whilst supporting my exploration of the situational, interactional and tacit dimensions of participation. Constructing a three‐dimensional scaled model of the fieldwork setting and using narratives from my field notes, I undertook a cyclical reflective process where I reconstructed critical moments that took place. This was used as both a tool for communicating my participatory design educational practice and for evaluating my findings with the participants. By sharing this sense‐making process, I offer an ethical means of visually documenting fieldwork when working in sensitive contexts and with vulnerable participants, setting out the dual role this design artefact played as both a producer and carrier of experiential knowledge.     

Towards a pedagogy of science teaching: an exploration of the impact of students-led questioning and feedback on the attainment of Key Stage 3 Science students in a UK school

This mixed method study investigated the extent to which the use of a model built around student-led questioning and feedback improved the learner engagement and attainment of a cohort of students. It compared outcomes from an experimental with a control group of students in Key-Stage 3 using a set of parameters. It found that the experimental group, who were taught using this model, showed improvements in engagement and attainment when compared to the control group. A model of discourse was proposed to help students take ownership of their learning and offered as a means of helping to transform science teachers’ classroom pedagogy.     

Learning sorting algorithms through visualization construction

Recent increased interest in computational thinking poses an important question to researchers: What are the best ways to teach fundamental computing concepts to students? Visualization is suggested as one way of supporting student learning. This mixed-method study aimed to (i) examine the effect of instruction in which students constructed visualizations on students’ programming achievement and students’ attitudes toward computer programming, and (ii) explore how this kind of instruction supports students’ learning according to their self-reported experiences in the course. The study was conducted with 58 pre-service teachers who were enrolled in their second programming class. They expect to teach information technology and computing-related courses at the primary and secondary levels. An embedded experimental model was utilized as a research design. Students in the experimental group were given instruction that required students to construct visualizations related to sorting, whereas students in the control group viewed pre-made visualizations. After the instructional intervention, eight students from each group were selected for semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the intervention based on visualization construction resulted in significantly better acquisition of sorting concepts. However, there was no significant difference between the groups with respect to students’ attitudes toward computer programming. Qualitative data analysis indicated that students in the experimental group constructed necessary abstractions through their engagement in visualization construction activities. The authors of this study argue that the students’ active engagement in the visualization construction activities explains only one side of students’ success. The other side can be explained through the instructional approach, constructionism in this case, used to design instruction. The conclusions and implications of this study can be used by researchers and instructors dealing with computational thinking.     

Institutional Expenditures and Student Engagement: a Role for Financial Resources in Enhancing Student Learning and Development?

The concept of student engagement is receiving increased attention from researchers, higher education leaders, and the general public in recent years. This increased attention represents a shift from the more traditional resource and reputation model of academic quality to a model that emphasizes institutional best practices and student experiences that enhance student learning and development. At the same time, institutions face rising operating costs and the public faces rising costs of attendance. However, relatively little effort has been made to explore the potential relationship between these two important research and policy areas. This study examined the relationship between institutional expenditures and student engagement based on data from 142 colleges and universities. The results of an OLS multiple regression model, including a factor for student engagement as the dependent variable, suggest that administrative expenditures are negatively related to student engagement. These results support further exploration of potential complex causal links between expenditures and engagement and may provide support for initiatives to reverse historical trends and adjust institutional spending.I would like to thank Ms. Cathy Statham for assistance in obtaining data for this study.