Student Engagement in Mathematics: A Longitudinal Study of Classroom and Psychosocial Processes

提高学生的参与度是许多改革努力的明确目标，这些改革努力旨在解决学生的无聊、疏离和低成就等问题。为了更好地理解与数学投入相关的过程，重要的是要研究学生数学投入的轨迹和模式，以及种族和性别的差异，相关的动机和课堂因素，以及参与对成就的影响。了解课堂特征在哪些条件下最有效，以及对谁最有效，可以开发和改进与情境相关的干预措施和最佳教学实践，从而提高学生的参与度和数学成绩。该研究旨在调查与六年级至八年级数学参与相关的课堂和心理社会过程，并采用不同种族的样本。了解历史上代表性不足的学生群体的这些过程尤为重要，因为它将增强我们扩大STEM参与的能力，并增加代表性不足群体在STEM学习中的机会和参与。这些发现可以帮助识别那些有更大风险脱离数学和可能远离STEM职业的学生群体，并开发基于课堂的干预措施，以反映特定的背景、教学实践和动机信念。这项研究有三个具体的目的：1。识别学生参与数学课的不同轨迹模式，并研究这些轨迹模式如何因性别和种族而不同；2. 研究教学和社会特征如何预测学生在数学课上的参与度，进而预测数学成绩；3. 考察教师和学生的心理信念如何以及怎样调节课堂特征和学生在数学课上的参与度之间的联系。为了达到这些目标，研究人员采用了纵向定量和定性方法。定量研究将调查课堂和动机因素之间的复杂关系系统，以及这些动态的发展，而定性研究将调查学生赋予他们的数学经历和对数学身份的自我认知的不同意义和目的。通过收集课堂观察数据，结合调查和访谈数据，研究课堂特征与学生数学参与度之间的相互关系和变化，该项目将确定哪些课堂和社会心理预测因素是提高数学参与度的主要目标。此外，该项目依赖于纵向的、以人为本的定量和定性数据来跟踪学生参与度随时间的变化，确定特定子群体的参与度轨迹，并解决有关各种参与度模式的可取性和参与度维度之间协同作用的问题。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Increasing student engagement is an explicit goal of many reform efforts that address problems of student boredom, alienation, and low achievement. To better understand the processes linked to math engagement, it is important to study the trajectories and patterns of student math engagement and differences by race and gender, the associated motivational and classroom factors, and the impact of engagement on achievement. Understanding the conditions under which classroom characteristics are most effective and for whom can lead to the development and refinement of contextually-relevant interventions and optimal teaching practices that enhance student engagement and achievement in math. The study aims to investigate the classroom and psychosocial processes linked to mathematics engagement from 6th to 8th grade with a racially diverse sample. Understanding these processes among historically underrepresented groups of students is particularly important because it will enhance our ability to broaden participation in STEM and increase the access and involvement of underrepresented groups in STEM learning. The findings can help to identify groups of students who are at greater risk for disengaging from math and potentially turning away from STEM careers and to develop classroom-based interventions that reflect specific contexts, instructional practices, and motivational beliefs. The study has three specific aims: 1. Identify differential trajectory patterns of student engagement in math classes and examine how these trajectory patterns differ by gender and race; 2. Examine how and what instructional and social characteristics predict student engagement in math classes, which in turn predict math achievement; 3. Examine how and what psychological beliefs of teachers and students moderate the associations between classroom characteristics and student engagement in math classes. To meet these goals, the researchers employ both longitudinal quantitative and qualitative methods. The quantitative study will investigate this complex system of interrelations between classroom and motivational factors and the development over time of these dynamics, while the qualitative study will investigate the different meanings and purposes that students ascribe to their math experiences and self-perceptions about math identity. By examining the reciprocal relationship between classroom characteristics and student engagement in math and variations through collection of classroom observation data, coupled with survey and interview data, the project will identify which classroom and psychosocial predictors are prime targets for raising math engagement. In addition, this project relies on longitudinal, person-centered quantitative and qualitative data to track changes in students' engagement over time, identify engagement trajectories in specific subgroups, and address questions about the desirability of various patterns of engagement and synergy among dimensions of engagement.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.