To speak or not to speak: analysis of student engagement in a large enrollment introductory Chemistry class

Nicole Elizabeth States

doi:10.25820/etd.007040

As active learning becomes more prevalent in science classrooms to improve student experiences and outcomes, it is important to examine the nature of and conditions that promote student engagement. Discipline-based education research has advised improving student experiences through smaller class sizes and groups with close interactions with instructors and peers. However, this transition to smaller classes is not always possible and many large introductory classes are still taught in large enrollment stadium-style classrooms, which makes group work more difficult due to the room layout and immobile seating. These classroom layouts may hinder an instructor's ability to monitor student engagement by making it difficult to interact with students as they work. Because of the complexity of student learning in these large classrooms, examining the classroom learning environment is important because it is shaped by factors such as instructor facilitation style, curricular design, and classroom layout that affect a student’s comfort interacting. This dissertation investigates student engagement patterns and instructional practices in large enrollment stadium-style classrooms, specifically focusing on the use of nonverbal and verbal engagement, question design, and facilitation strategies. The results provide insights for instructors on how to promote positive student interactions within these classroom settings. This work began by collecting audio and visual data from both the instructor and student interactions across two semesters. I first looked at nonverbal interactions as indicators for engagement because it has been observed that nonverbal actions, such as eyes on the paper or an unsettled gaze, can be used to determine when students are actively engaged during group work. This project aimed to develop a way for instructors within large classrooms to measure engagement by looking out at the class. While previous methods have been implemented to determine student actions during a class period, in larger settings these protocols require time- consuming data collection and cannot give in-the-moment feedback. In chapter two, student verbal and nonverbal interactions were analyzed and compared to determine the types of nonverbal interactions students take when collaboratively engaging in group work during lectures. It was found that a larger variety of nonverbal interactions, such as gesturing and leaning, were used when students were collaboratively working within their groups. Instructors of large enrollment classrooms can use the results of this work to aid in their facilitation of group work by scanning the classrooms and looking for nonverbal indicators of engagement and intervening when there is a lack of markers for engagement. In chapter 3, I more closely examined the social and cognitive engagement that was used in the first study to determine nonverbal correlates. In this study, student social interactions and use of knowledge were analyzed across two semesters to determine the types of social and cognitive engagement and the question design factors that may have promoted positive student interactions in a large stadium-style lecture hall. Analysis of social and cognitive engagement revealed the complex nature of student interactions within these large stadium- style classrooms. It was found that control over the question design was likely not enough to consistently generate productive social and cognitive engagement across groups. The results highlight that instructors of large enrollment stadium-style classes need to manage facilitation strategies outside of just the types of questions they ask in class to promote consistent positive student engagement across a variety of groups when they are unable to provide instructor intervention to most of the groups. Chapter 4 is the final study in the large lecture hall to build upon the work of the previous study investigating the facilitation styles of instructors across the semesters. Undergraduate introductory chemistry lectures were investigated to identify the effects that instructional practices had on student engagement. Instructor facilitation, question design, and student interactions were analyzed and compared to provide insights into what instructional practices may promote or hinder student engagement in a large enrollment course. It was found that factors of facilitation such as interruptions and the communicative approaches used while implementing clicker questions affected the social and cognitive engagement of student groups. Instructors in introductory courses should take care to allow more time for students to solve more complex problems. Additionally, when using student response systems, instructors should pay careful attention to the way they are explaining questions and try to solve them interactively with students sharing information during the explanation. In chapter 5, I examined the discussion component of the course to develop a well- rounded picture of student engagement across multiple components of a large enrollment course. This project was inspired by the idea that incorporating real-life context through connections to research early in the curriculum can create meaningful learning opportunities that encourage students to engage deeply with classroom content. Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences have been successful at integrating real-life context into undergraduate chemistry curricula that allow students to meaningfully connect with the material. However, institutions often only incorporate these into upper-level courses due to the need for more personalized grading procedures. To provide an additional pathway to foster interaction with research, four activities were created to incorporate authentic research connections. Care was taken to incorporate metacognitive questions designed to help students make connections between their preexisting knowledge and course content. The cognitive complexity of questions was increased, allowing for more opportunities for knowledge construction. Analysis of student engagement revealed that control over the content of activities to incorporate opportunities for knowledge construction is not enough to facilitate students consciously engaging in meaningful learning. If instructors wish to promote students integrating chemistry knowledge into their existing framework, course instructors, including graduate teaching assistants, need to be trained on how to properly facilitate classroom experiences to increase the likelihood of success. The importance of promoting student engagement in large introductory courses has been highlighted in this work, as student groups were not primarily productively engaged across the two semesters. While smaller class sizes and close interactions with instructors and peers have been advised to improve student experiences, many large introductory classes are still taught in stadium-style classrooms that hinder effective group work and make it difficult for instructors to monitor engagement. The studies presented in this work provide insights for instructors on how to create effective learning environments and promote positive student interactions within these classroom settings by focusing on nonverbal and verbal engagement, question design, facilitation strategies, and the incorporation of real-life context. From the results, it is clear that instructors need to manage facilitation strategies beyond just question design to promote consistent positive student engagement across a variety of groups. If instructors want to promote meaningful learning, they should more explicitly incorporate questions throughout the whole activity that would have the students make connections to the research context. Moreover, if instructors wish to promote meaningful learning, they need to be trained in how to properly facilitate classroom experiences to promote active engagement. This could include formal pieces of training through university offices or informal training led by lead instructors during teaching meetings focusing on how to guide students through answering problems to elicit their previous knowledge.

To speak or not to speak: analysis of student engagement in a large enrollment introductory Chemistry class

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