Student Beliefs About Agentic Engagement: A Phenomenological Study in High School Science Classrooms

• In Event: Qualitative and Mixed-Methods Approaches to Studying Motivation

Abstract

Agentic engagement describes students’ intentional, proactive, and constructive contributions into classroom learning activities and instruction. We conducted a phenomenological study using qualitative interview and focus group methods in order to understand how high school students agentically engage in the classroom, as well their beliefs about this process. Our findings yielded three, overarching themes related to: the agentic engagement strategies that students used (i.e., behaviors and approaches); the reasons why they used agentic engagement strategies (e.g., solicit teacher support); and the criteria that affected use and perceived effectiveness of agentic engagement strategies (e.g., teachers’ levels of responsiveness to students’ suggestions and questions). Our findings have implications for teacher practices that support student motivation in the classroom and for future research directions.

Authors

• Jeanette Zambrano, University of Southern California

• Alana Aiko Uilani Kennedy, Northern Arizona University

• Crystal Aguilera, University of Southern California

• Nicole Marissa Yates, University of Southern California

• Erika Alisha Patall, University of Southern California