Poster #119 - Different Dimensions and Distinct Profiles of Engagement in College Mathematics Courses

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Methods, History, Theory

Integrative Statement

Engagement refers to students’ involvement in, reactions to, and interactions with learning activities in a specific physical, instructional, and social learning environment (Boekaerts, 2016). Previous research (Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; Heddy & Sinatra, 2013; Johnson & Sinatra, 2012; Tytler & Osborne, 2012) demonstrates that learning engagement improves academic performance and contributes to long-term involvement in education. Recently, engagement in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has become an active research topic due to growing interest in building a stronger and larger STEM workforce. Despite the vast empirical research on engagement and its role in learning, the conceptualization and measurement of engagement were inconsistent. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to understand the measurement of engagement in college mathematics courses. Specifically, two questions will be addressed: (1) What are the dimensionality and factor structure of engagement? (2) What are the distinct profiles of engagement?

Participants were 322 college students (35% females; 18% Black, 29% Asian, 6% Latinx; 54% freshmen; 60% living on campus) taking a 100-level math course in Fall 2017 in a medium-sized state university in the U.S. South Atlantic region. They completed an online survey that included an engagement measure adapted from the 33-item Math and Science Engagement Scales (Wang et al., 2016) and the 5-item Agentic Engagement Scale (Reeve & Tseng, 2011). Exploratory factor analyses were used to examine the dimensionality and factor structure of engagement. Cluster analyses were conducted to identify the distinct profiles of engagement.

Four factors (see Table 1) were obtained from exploratory factor analyses: social engagement (i.e., work with teachers and peers; α = .872), cognitive-behavioral engagement (i.e., strategies and efforts; α = .865), cognitive-behavioral disengagement (i.e., lack of strategies and efforts; α = .822), and emotional engagement (i.e., interest and excitement; α = .822). Cluster analyses (see Figure 1) revealed four distinct engagement profiles. Disengaged learners (n = 82) were low on social, emotional, and cognitive-behavioral engagement, while highly-engaged learners (n = 110) showed the opposite. Social learners (n = 9) were high on social engagement but low on emotional and cognitive-behavioral factors. Indifferent learners (n = 120) showed the average level of engagement on all factors.

The study identified four factors of engagement in a sample of college students taking introductory mathematics courses. Behavioral and cognitive aspects of engagement were highly correlated and thus grouped into one and only factor. Social and emotional aspects of engagement were found to be distinct factors. Moreover, the four distinct profiles of engagement suggested that college students engaged in college mathematics in different ways. These findings have important implications for college math teaching and learning. Different pedagogies are needed for these profiles in order to increase overall engagement in college mathematics courses. Future research should further investigate the proposed dimensions of engagement in STEM courses. It is also important to examine the correlation between engagement profiles and learning outcomes in STEM courses.

Authors

• Tiffany Nguyen, University of Maryland Baltimore County
  Presenting Author

• Shuyan Sun, University of Maryland Baltimore County
  Non-Presenting Author