Support engagement particularly in academic subjects by incorporating exploration and learning by doing¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · 4 claims (4 for) · 2 studies (1 associational, 1 design), q1–q2 · 0 of 2 report an effect size · 4 claims rest on one study

Description¶

The authors' conclusion states that "engagement should be supported particularly in academic subjects which do not lend themselves as easily to exploration and learning by doing." Because lesson-to-lesson variation was largest within students and tied to subject, and higher engagement occurred in subjects emphasizing learning by doing (home economics) or exploring and experimenting (physics), teachers should foster active participation and hands-on, exploratory tasks in academic lessons, and actively support lower achieving students' engagement.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Instructional designs that allow active participation and effort, such as exploration, experimenting, and learning by doing

Constraints¶

• The article's support is correlational evidence from subject contrasts, not a test of an intervention

Target Learners¶

• lower secondary school students, especially lower achieving students

Target Learning Goals¶

• situational engagement and reduced disaffection in academic lessons

Claims¶

• Students report higher engagement and lower disaffection in non-academic subjects (home economics, physical education) than in academic subjects [+W]
• Mathematics shows the lowest student ratings of situational engagement among school subjects [+W]
• Students reported that the virtual-lab lesson made learning fun, helped them figure out concepts themselves, and supported thinking like real scientists [+W]
• Lower secondary students' situation-specific engagement varies most strongly between lessons within students, with smaller between-student variation [+W]

Related Strategies¶

• Incorporating Physical Activity Into Classroom Learning

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Pöysä, S., Vasalampi, K., Muotka, J., Lerkkanen, M.-K., Poikkeus, A.-M., & Nurmi, J.-E. (2018). Variation in situation-specific engagement among lower secondary school students. Learning and Instruction, 53, 64-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2017.07.007