Abstract
Engagement refers to a learner's interest in their own learning. Engaged students care about what they are learning and spend the time necessary to learn more. Learner engagement leads to increased achievement in a course and also increased satisfaction with the learning experience. This chapter explores elements of engagement from both a researcher and practitioner perspective. The authors explore the definition of engagement along with an explanation of the most influential theories of engagement. They also explain what classroom practices are most likely to build engagement and suggest future research directions.
TopBackground
The best place to begin a discussion about engagement is with the definition of the construct. However, with engagement, there’s no strong consensus in the literature on what defines an engaged student (Henrie, Halverson, & Graham, 2015).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Effort Regulation: A learner’s ability to monitor and sustain effort even when the content is difficult, frustrating, or boring.
Engagement: How interested and connected a student is to what they are learning in a course.
Affective Engagement: A learner’s emotional connection to what they are learning. It is a sub-construct of overall learner engagement.
Self-Efficacy: A learner’s belief that they are capable of fulfilling the requirements of a task.
Cognitive Engagement: A learner’s mental connection to what they are learning. This is when a student thinks about their learning and connects it to existing knowledge. It is a sub-construct of overall learner engagement.
Self-Motivation: A learner’s ability to create and sustain motivation in a course.
Behavioral Engagement: A learner’s physical actions that demonstrate their engagement in content. It can be measured by looking at participation in a course through discussion posts, assignments completed, page views, and sometimes overall grades. It is a sub-construct of overall learner engagement.