Manipulating and Measuring Student Engagement in Computer-Based Instruction

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.