Abstract:
Student engagement and achievement in education have an important relationship. This quantitative study investigates how engagement may have an impact on achievement in mathematics, a subject in which low achievement, lack of enjoyment, and feelings of inadequacy are often reported. Negative attitudes towards mathematics and declining engagement have been found to emerge as children transition from early primary education to secondary education. Therefore, this study focuses on engagement and achievement in mathematics in Years 7 and 8. The findings of this study are used to prepare a profile of student engagement to help teachers understand their students better. A self-report survey was administered to 469 Year 7 and 8 students to gain an understanding of the factors that may contribute to engagement in the New Zealand intermediate mathematics classroom. Factors were identified using Exploratory Factor Analysis. The relationship between engagement levels and achievement was also explored using Linear Regression modelling. The Factor Analysis identified five factors in the students’ responses. These factors were: the three dimensions of engagement identified in the literature (emotional, cognitive, and behavioural); student perceptions of teacher ability and assistance in mathematics; and parents/caregivers abilities and interest in mathematics. The factors were found to be moderately inter-correlated. Cognitive engagement was found to be highly predictive of achievement, with three other factors found to be predictive to a much lesser degree. Perceptions of parental abilities were not found to be predictive of achievement. Summed factor scores were then calculated to use in an output to provide teachers with a profile of engagement in mathematics that could inform their practice. Only the items found to load clearly against a factor during Exploratory Factor Analysis were included in these scores. This study has found evidence that the dimensions of student engagement can be measured through a self-report survey and that cognitive engagement is predictive of achievement levels. It has shown that valuable information about student engagement in mathematics can be collected in such a way that it can inform pedagogical practice and choices.
