Manipulating and Measuring Student Engagement in Computer-Based Instruction
Pfaffman, Jay Alton
:
2003-12-01
Abstract
This study is based on pilot work that suggested that what makes
hobbies engaging for adults is the opportunity to create an artifact
that can be customized and shared. Further pilot studies showed
that these same traits also contributed to high school seniors'
enjoyment of their favorite activities both outside and inside of
the classroom. These surveys suggested two hypotheses. The weak
hypothesis is that giving students increased opportunities to
create, customize and share will increase engagement. The strong
version of the hypothesis posits that increased engagement will lead
to increased attempts to learn. An instructional experiment tested
these hypotheses. It used three different activities in NetLogo
that varied opportunities to create, customize and share simulations
on population dynamics. The study yielded positive, though
moderate, support for the hypotheses, and provides insight on the
future design of tools for relating motivation and learning with
understanding.