Student Choice: Effects on Engagement and Conceptual Understanding
Major
Educational Studies
Submission Type
Oral Presentation
Area of Study or Work
Educational Studies
Faculty Advisor
Leah Nillas
Location
State Farm Hall
Start Date
4-13-2024 9:00 AM
End Date
4-13-2024 12:00 PM
Abstract
The provision of student choice and its effect on engagement and conceptual understanding is a relatively new area of education research. Recent studies on student choice have explored how to create meaningful choices for students and how to implement student choice in the classroom. Student choice has been found to have the ability to positively affect engagement and academic performance, in general. In this study, student choice is defined as the autonomy that students are given over their learning (Evans & Boucher, 2015). The term conceptual understanding refers to comprehension of mathematical concepts, operations, and relations (National Research Council, 2001). During the teacher’s student teaching semester in a third-grade classroom, the teacher implemented weekly math reteaching centers where students were allowed to select which learning center they thought would be beneficial in improving their conceptual understanding. In addition, students completed weekly self-assessments to reflect on their areas of strengths and weaknesses in their conceptual understanding of given topics. The teacher conducted this study with the goal of identifying a positive relationship between student choice and engagement and conceptual understanding. The teacher analyzed the classroom data using the idea that students’ sense of autonomy can promote intrinsic motivation in the classroom (Evans & Boucher, 2015). The teacher analyzed anecdotal records, student work samples, and observation notes to determine the impact of student choice on engagement and conceptual understanding. This study contributes valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge on student choice that educators can build upon in both theory and practice to foster advancements in students’ engagement and conceptual understanding.
Student Choice: Effects on Engagement and Conceptual Understanding
State Farm Hall
The provision of student choice and its effect on engagement and conceptual understanding is a relatively new area of education research. Recent studies on student choice have explored how to create meaningful choices for students and how to implement student choice in the classroom. Student choice has been found to have the ability to positively affect engagement and academic performance, in general. In this study, student choice is defined as the autonomy that students are given over their learning (Evans & Boucher, 2015). The term conceptual understanding refers to comprehension of mathematical concepts, operations, and relations (National Research Council, 2001). During the teacher’s student teaching semester in a third-grade classroom, the teacher implemented weekly math reteaching centers where students were allowed to select which learning center they thought would be beneficial in improving their conceptual understanding. In addition, students completed weekly self-assessments to reflect on their areas of strengths and weaknesses in their conceptual understanding of given topics. The teacher conducted this study with the goal of identifying a positive relationship between student choice and engagement and conceptual understanding. The teacher analyzed the classroom data using the idea that students’ sense of autonomy can promote intrinsic motivation in the classroom (Evans & Boucher, 2015). The teacher analyzed anecdotal records, student work samples, and observation notes to determine the impact of student choice on engagement and conceptual understanding. This study contributes valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge on student choice that educators can build upon in both theory and practice to foster advancements in students’ engagement and conceptual understanding.