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Series Editors: Prof. Punya Mishra & Prof. Matthew J. KoehlerMichigan State University, USA

Introduction by Punya Mishra & Matthew J. Koehler

It gives us great pleasure to introduce the second article for a regular series ofcolumns that introduces readers to contemporary educational research and itsimplications for practice. This column addresses the important topic of student

engagement. This column was written by Karen V. Bedell, a doctoral student at theCollege of Education, Michigan State University working under our supervision.

Student Engagement GettingStartedTesting, grades, and scores are a key partof education today. They not only functionas measures of student learning but are alsoexpected to be motivating. It appearscommonsensical that students wouldengage more with school and the curriculumin order to receive better grades or scoreson a test. As it turns out, what appears tobe common sense, may not be so. In fact,educational psychology research hasconsistently shown that external rewardsmay actually reduce student engagement,rather than enhance it.

For instance, consider the researchconducted by Mark Lepper, David Greene,and Richard Nisbett. Back in 1973 theystudied some preschool children whoenjoyed drawing with magic markers. Theybrought some of the children into anotherroom and offered them “good playerawards” (certificates and ribbons) if theywould draw pictures with the markers. Otherchildren were not offered awards, butreceived them as a surprise for drawingpictures with the markers. Later when theserewards were removed, however, childrenwho previously came to expect a rewardwere no longer interested in drawing withthe markers and they moved on to other

activities. The children who receivedunexpected rewards and children who werenever offered any awards did not loseinterest in drawing with the markers.

Similarly, in 1989, Diana Cordova and MarkLepper gave children a problem-solvingtask based upon a popular board game inthe United States that has children playdetective and solve a mystery. Somechildren were offered a toy for finishingthe activity, while others used a version ofthe activity embellished with a comic-bookstyle story inviting the children to becomedetectives. The results were impressive.

Students who were offered toys as rewardsrelied on guesses and unimaginativestrategies to solve the mystery. Moreimportantly, they also showed a preferencefor easier problems in the future. Studentswho were offered the more challenging,open-ended comic-book task, on the otherhand, were more creative in their solutions,more positive about themselves, and moreambitious about future challenges.

These two examples illustrate a remarkablefinding – rewards for completing activitiesdo not help students to learn. Somestudents may not even get motivated bygrades. How then can teachers inspire theirstudents to engage in learning? How canteachers influence their students’enthusiasm for learning? We will explorewhat the research says about some of theseissues and offer suggestions forpractitioners.

What does the Research Say?

What is student engagement?

From Research to Practice:Student EngagementKaren V. Bedell

TALK TO TEACHERS

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Student engagement is the psychologicalinvestment in learning. Engaged studentsare curious, interested, and excited bychallenges. They persist through difficulttasks and they take satisfaction in theiraccomplishments. They are involved inlearning because it is interesting, rather thansimply doing the work so they can moveon. They become intrinsically motivatedand they do things out of enjoyment ratherthan to earn a prize or avoid punishment. Inother words, engaged students are the kindsof learners we all would like to have in ourclassrooms!

What does engagement look like?Engagement is more than just listening,behaving, and being “on task”. A holisticview of engagement considers whatstudents do, what they think, and how theyfeel.

• Behavioral engagement is observedwhen students attend class, talk aboutwhat they are learning, and keep tryingwhen the work is hard. These studentsare taking notes, doing homework,listening carefully, posing questions,participating in small groups, and

helping others. What happens whenthe teacher stops talking? Do studentscontinue the conversation amongthemselves, moving toward the desiredlearning outcome? Behavioralengagement in early elementary gradespredicts later success on test scores,grades, and the decision to drop outof high school.

• Cognitive engagement reflects astudent’s investment in learning.Students who are cognitively engagedset learning goals, self-regulate theirown behavior, and desire to go beyondthe minimum requirements. It’s thedifference between surface level rotelearning and deep level discoveries ofmeaning and connections. It is effortfocused on mastering the material.Teachers can increase this type ofengagement by developing students’higher level thinking skills (analysis,making connections) and encouragingactive responding (writing,responding) as opposed to passiveparticipation (listening, taking turns).Teachers can also generate thisengagement by making learning fun,

like the comic-book scenariomentioned earlier. This form ofengagement is also linked toachievement, deep understanding, andflexible thinking skills.

• Emotional engagement reflects astudent’s enjoyment of and sense ofbelonging to a school. It is developedby forming relationships and feelingsuccessful at school. When studentsenjoy a subject, they are likely to valueit in its own right and pursue additionallearning on their own. A supportivestudent-teacher relationship is aprimary source of students’ emotionalengagement. Strong emotionalengagement in school may be relatedto resilience during stress.

It is quite possible for students’engagement to differ across the threedimensions and across subjects. Forexample, students can go through themotions of their coursework withoutcognitive engagement (i.e. withoutachieving deep understanding of the ideas)or without emotional engagement (i.e. with

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no enjoyment of the process or feeling ofachievement). Research suggests that thesedimensions influence each other and areimportant to academic success, satisfaction,and persistence. What’s more, teachers canmake the difference between minimalparticipation and full-on enthusiasm.

What are the outcomes of studentengagement?

Students’ investment in learning hasconsequences for their academic, social,and emotional well-being. Engagedstudents learn more, develop greater criticalthinking skills, and are more satisfied withschool than disinterested students. Theresearch shows that, over time, studentswho are more engaged in school have bettergrades and higher achievement onstandardized tests. They are also more likelyto stay in school and graduate. Behavioralengagement in elementary school has beenshown to be a critical predictor of thedecision to drop out of high school.

Engagement in school yields social andpersonal benefits that extend beyond theclassroom. Benefits include interpersonalskills, social awareness, and establishingone’s identity. It has been associated withmoral and ethical development, as well asincreased openness to diversity. Studentsappear to develop a sharper awareness of

their interests, skills, and values; whichprepares them for success bothoccupationally and personally.

These benefits go beyond elementary andmiddle school to the college level as well.At the college level, student involvementyields commitment-to learning, to theschool, to finishing the requirements forthe degree, and in some ways, sets thestage for their future success in life.

What influences studentengagement?

Engagement is facilitated by activities thatare fun, selected by the student, challengingenough to be interesting, and involverelating to other people.

• Fun helps to connect learning materialwith characters and objects that thestudents are interested in. Instead ofdrills, turn learning into a game.Embellish plain learning activities withfantasy and characters.

• Autonomy develops when studentsperceive they have a choice over theiractions and that their behavior isfreely-chosen, rather than imposed bythe teacher. For example, students canbe given a choice of projects tocomplete; or the option to design theirown. Abandon the notion that

everyone must do the same thing.

• Competence develops from feeling thatone’s efforts are successful. To raisestudents’ sense of competence,teachers should offer feedback thatdownplays evaluation and showsstudents how to master the task athand.

• Relatedness is the sense of connectionbetween students and teachers. Thestudent-teacher relationship isimportant to sustain engagement.Students who perceive that theirteachers have confidence in them aremore likely to try and are less likely todrop out of school than students whodon’t perceive teacher support.

Nothing influences student engagementmore than a teacher who is passionateabout teaching. It’s been said that students“don’t care what you know until they knowyou care”.

How Can Teachers CultivateStudent Engagement?In light of the research, what can teachersdo to optimize their students’ engagement?Instead of incentivizing students to learnthrough rewards, teachers shouldrecognize that students already want tolearn. There are four main ways teacherscan tap into students’ innate desire to learn.

Foster RelationshipsWhen students make positive connectionsin the classroom, those feelings generalizeto the teacher and school, increasingaffective engagement in learning. Createopportunities for students to forminterpersonal relationships with otherstudents-with icebreakers, pair and shareexercises, small group discussions, and self-disclosure. Getting to know your studentson a personal level enables you to offerlearning experiences that they will value.When students struggle, reach out to them,point out their strengths, and build theirefficacy for the challenges they face.

Foster Collaboration

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Further reading

Christenson, S. L., Reschly, A. L., & Wylie, C. (Eds.). (2012). Handbook of research on student engagement. New York: SpringerScience+Business Media.

De Frondeville, T. (2009). Ten steps to better student engagement. Edutopia. http://www.edutopia.org/project-learning-teaching-strategies

Fredricks, J. A., Blumenfeld, P. C., & Paris, A. H. (2004). School engagement: Potential of the concept, state of the evidence.Review of Educational Research, 74(1), 59-109.

Reeve, J. (2005 ). How teachers can promote students’ autonomy during instruction: Lessons from a decade of research. Paperpresented at the Iowa Educational Research and Evaluation Association, Cedar Falls, IA.

Wolpert, H. (2012, April 26). Student engagement stories. [Web Log Post]. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/student-engagement-stories-heather-wolpert-gawron

Zepke, N., & Leach, L. (2010). Improving student engagement: Ten proposals for action. Active Learning in Higher Education,11(3), 167-177.

About the author:Karen V. Bedell is a doctoral student in educational psychology in the College of Education at Michigan State University. She isinterested in student motivation and collaborative learning. You can find out more about her at http://karenbedell.weebly.com/.

About the editors:Prof. Punya Mishra (http://punyamishra.com/) and Prof. Matthew J. Koehler (http://mkoehler.educ.msu.edu/) are professors ofeducational psychology and educational technology at Michigan State University. You can find out more about them by going to theirrespective websites.

Many teachers expect students to listenwhile they do all of the talking. Teacher-ledinstruction has its place but when studentswork together and teach other, studentinvolvement and motivation increase. Usecollaborative work to minimize the down timeassociated with large group discussions orcalling on one student at a time for answers.Suppose one student is assigned to learnabout Thailand, another’s job is to studyChina, and another learns about Vietnam.After they research their countries, theywork together to create a presentationcomparing and contrasting the threenations. The students depend on oneanother for information. Instead of justknowing where to locate these countrieson a map, they have substantiveconversations about them.

Challenge Students

Avoid giving students busy work that callsfor memorization, simple skills, or recall.Involve them in problem solving,

addressing real-world issues, creating newideas, and critically evaluating what theyread. As they master concepts and skills,push them to the next level, showing themwhere they can go next. Abandon theexpectation of students doing the sameactivity in the same way at the same time.

Use Technology

Use the technology that your students use.Blogs, wikis, and class websites can serveto showcase student work, supplementclassroom instruction, and facilitatecollaboration. In class, students can texttheir answers to formative assessmentquestions. Students can teach each othervia slide presentations, shared documents,or social media such as Pinterest andTwitter. The interactivity of online tools isnot only engaging, it may help studentsovercome cognitive and psychologicaldifficulties.

Our enthusiasm for teaching will motivatethem to meet the challenges we place before

them. Through strategies like these,teachers can create environments that fullyengage students and cultivate a life-longinterest in learning.

In conclusionGrades and scores and tests may be partand parcel of the classroom today. But theresearch is quite clear. These markers ofsuccess do not necessarily lead to studentengagement. In fact the findings from theresearch point in another directionaltogether. Students don’t need to beincentivized for doing what they enjoy, norshould rewards be used in place ofeducational, fun activities. Instead ofrewarding students for finishing their work,we educators should work towardsenhancing students’ interest in the tasks.This will not only improve their engagementwith learning it will also payoff for them inthe long run. Finally, speaking selfishly,these efforts at improving studentengagement, will make classrooms more funand enjoyable spaces for us (the educators)as well.

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