Teaching Practices: Mix-methods Examination

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Table of Contents

Abstrsact
Introduction
Statement of the Problem
Operational Definitions
Methodology
Results
Limitations of the Study
Discussion
Conclusion
References

Abstrsact

The aim of the study is to examine the extent and rationale of engagement dissimilarities understood across classes in assorted big school. Further, the paper utilizes a sample of 120 scholars in coming up with the diverse types of instruction practices used to measure the students engagement.

The study identifies connective instruction and academic rigors as well as lively teaching as the major types of teaching practices that are closely associated with students engagement. Besides, the study employs in-depth interviews, self-administered surveys along with observations to examine the connections existing between the teaching practices and the students engagements.

Introduction

Focused behaviors, emotions along with cognitions are considered critical aspects through which active state of response to class are achieved. In essence, classroom engagement encompasses behavioral, cognitive and emotional engagements. To begin with, behavioral engagement encompasses the magnitude of students behaviors in class regarding listening, participation, doing assignments as well as adherence to instructions (Turner, Christensen, Kackar-Cam, Trucano & Fulmer, 2014).

On the other hand, cognitive engagement denotes the scope at which students utilize mental capacities to think about instruction substances, understand firsthand materials as well as tackle intellectual encounters. Lastly, the scope of positive sensations developed by students towards class utilizes emotional engagement. For example, feeling relaxed, wanting to excel and reveling in lessons involve emotional engagement.

The occurrence of behavioral, cognitive and emotional engagements is concerted effort amongst the dimensions of engagement. In other words, for the engagement dimensions to operate effectively, collaboration as well as constitution of all-inclusive classroom engagement experience is essential (Cooper, 2014).

Theorists postulate that the levels of emotional engagement are higher among adolescents because in such epoch, the scope of venture and indulgence in engagements and interactions, which affect individuality, is augmented (Cooper, 2014). In fact, practices involving the incorporation of accomplishments, letdowns, lifestyles, delights, customs and desecrations along with fulfillments, characterize the period in the definition of distinctiveness.

Indeed, available evidence puts forward that relations and interrelationships that occur between teachers, adolescents and peers are significant definers of individuals self-worth as well as identity. Additionally, studies contend that there is a positive connection between individuality progress and engagement in teenagers.

Actually, teaching practices are critical in enhancing the scope of exchanges among students in a number of ways. Principally, teaching practices enable teachers to be acquainted with various forms of engagement and encourage students through offering students with the prospects of developing aptitudes as well as learn from slip-ups.

Statement of the Problem

Core to the development of individual distinctiveness among big school students is engagement. In this regard, the application of teaching practices, which significantly contributes to the development of students uniqueness, is necessary. In fact, active engagement is critical for success in learning within the school environment.

Essentially, engagement of adolescents incorporates positive academic outcomes in school, compassionate teachers and peers along with inspiring and realistic tasks. Actually, the concept of engagement applies the significance of participation in academic and extracurricular activities. In reality, involvement in class activities is fundamental for success in academics. Besides, engagement involves sensations that adolescents portray towards teachers, classmates, academics and school.

Such reactions are invaluable in enhancing links between school and the abilities concerning handling challenging tasks. Moreover, involvement also integrates thoughtfulness in understanding and grasping multifaceted concepts and challenging expertise. Based on the levels of engagement, teachers play critical roles in offering support and assistances to students in class.

Undeniably, teachers are capable of applying various approaches, which center on the content and abilities to be imparted and learnt respectively. Besides, teaching also engages students. Indeed, teachers often utilize diverse teaching approaches to engage students in class. In other words, the use of connective instruction, academic rigor and lively teaching practices play critical roles in bringing about engagement.

Actually, the combination of teaching methods and connective instructions enhances the teachers engagements with the students. For instance, through connective instruction, personal contact to the subject matter is enhanced among students. Such connections are significant in aiding the students to grasp the weight of academic content regarding lives, beliefs along with prospects. Besides, personal connections are vital in validating the thoughtfulness of students. Moreover, praise, written feedbacks and prospects for achievements are some of the ways through which personal connection offers affirmation to students.

Regarding academic rigor, the teachers emphasize on the hard work and academic success, passing the desired content in addition to the delivery of thought-provoking work. On lively teaching, teachers often embrace the use of games and fun activities, working in complaisant clusters and conveying project works as replacements to the monotonous discourses and low-involvement videos. In reality, the integration of teaching practices is connected to student engagement and identity development.

Whether connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching are connected to engagement is still a matter under study. While most researches that have been conducted in the area indicate positive and closer relationships of the variables, the degree in which the teaching practices affect students engagement particularly in big schools have not been exhausted. Therefore, this study will tend to examine the degree in which the teaching practices relate to engagement.

Operational Definitions

Engagement refers to the students commitment to teachers instructions and other learning processes. In other words, students engagement is the level of concentration in classwork as well as other leaning activities.

Big school in this study refers to schools above the elementary levels. In this study, big school encompasses schools with students in 9^th to 12^th grade. In other words, schools with grades ranging from ninth to twelfth grades are considered big school.

Connective instructions refer to teaching as well as the manner in which learning processes are undertaken. In other words, connective instruction is the process through which learning is imparted in classrooms.

Methodology

The Study Design and Procedures

The study utilized both survey and interview methods of data collection. The survey and interview methods of data collection are chosen due to their effectiveness in reaching out to the respondents and the quality of the obtained data. The desired data for this novel study were obtained through administering self-designed survey and interview questionnaires. Moreover, the data were gathered from respondents selected through random sampling procedures. In other words, the empirical data were collected within the specified number of participants, which constituted 70 students and 50 teachers.

In other words, the number of participants was limited to 120 respondents chosen through simple random sampling procedures. Besides, in terms of data analysis, integrated statistical analysis tools including Microsoft office applications and statistical software were applied. The analyzed data would be presented through the application of line graphs, tables as well as statistical bar charts. Further, the methods of data collection were chosen due to the reliability and validity of the obtained results.

Data perceived to be containing the relevant research information for the study were acquired from the primary sources. In fact, as a qualitative study that involves self-administration of research questionnaires, the pertinent primary data that included the students engagement in class were gathered via self-administration of the survey questionnaires, conducting structured in-depth interviews to the chosen employees, and through observation.

In essence, a comprehensive exploration instruments were developed besides being satisfactorily tested prior to embarking on the actual students engagement research study. In other words, after consultation with the supervisor, questionnaires were developed and only the selected as well as amended items that addressed the study questions and objectives were included.

Population and Research Sample

In this particular study, all the students and teachers were deemed viable when carrying out the research. However, the population consisted of only a few selected students as well as teachers. From the total number of students and teachers that could have been used in the study, just 120 respondents including 70 students and 50 teachers were selected via a technique dubbed as convenience sampling strategy. The research questionnaires were administered to help in addressing the formulated research questions.

However, for this study, the proposed sample size comprised of 120 participants mainly students grouped according to their class levels. The groupings consisted of seven class levels each represented by ten students randomly picked from the main classes. However, the teachers were not categorized since teachers are involved in all classes and could easily determine the engagement levels among the students. All the participants were interviewed to help the researcher obtain the study qualitative data.

Instrumentation

As one of the most critical studies in the field of education, the required information concerning the students engagements in classrooms were collected through administering properly designed research questionnaires, observations alongside conducting well-structured in-depth interviews to the randomly selected participants. As indicated, the soundly designed research questionnaires were administered to 120 participants consisting of students and teachers. Each part of the questionnaire constituted of key items that suitably attended to the research questions.

For instance, part one constituted of the reasons behind lack of engagement and active participations in classrooms while part two elicited on the challenges students face while in class. On the other hand, the teachers questionnaires consisted of items that tended to challenge the students views. Some items in the questionnaire threw light on the best teaching practices, training policies as well as the impact attached to such teaching practices.

The questionnaires were made of both open and closed ended research questions and were believed to be of great significance to the research particularly during the data analysis. Minor research tools namely direct observations and occasional conversation were also used to collect primary data. Different scales were however applied in the survey questionnaire during data collection to ensure reliability and validity of some research questions.

For example, ordinary scales were applicable in various research questions given that most questions measured knowledge, feelings and experience. In contrast, the scale reliability was made certain via repeatability and internal consistency concepts. This implies that the questionnaires comprised of different questions asking about the same thing yet in a very different way. Finally, split half techniques were applied to attain internal consistency.

Results

Various classroom engagement practices were examined among students and teachers including the connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching. As indicated in prior researches and according to the expectations, the classroom engagement practices were found to positively correlate with increased engagement in all the class levels.

However, the degree of engagement increases with higher-class levels. In other words, large number of students in lower class levels were least influenced by the teaching practices. Besides, it was hypothesized that connective instruction practices, which are individualistic in nature, would play a greater role in influencing students engagement given the fact that the learners are in adolescent and identity is significant in their development at this stage.

Essentially, as anticipated, all the teaching practices examined were found to have significant correlation with classroom engagement as well as with each other. In fact, the teachers perception had the strongest correlation while the challenging work had the least correlation. The study findings are in accordance with the previous study findings indicating that teaching practices such as care and understandings are highly related to classroom engagement.

The study findings also indicated that challenging work, games and fun activities have reduced correlation with students engagement respectively. Generally, the mixtures of connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching were found to have significant correlation with engagement respectively.

The other assumption of the study is that class levels and differences in teaching cause the variations in students engagement. In fact, the hypothesis was found to be true given the fact that differences in classroom engagement depended significantly on the class levels. However, other factors such as differences across students were also found to significantly influence engagement. In terms of class levels, the 11^th and 12^th grade students were found to be highly engaged compared with 9^th and 10^th grade students. Besides, students at higher-class levels also recorded increased levels of connective instructions compared with other grade levels.

Limitations of the Study

Given the kind of study to be carried out, the stipulated timeframe might hinder the full investigation and covering of all the students class engagement parameters. Moreover, most of the students engagement parameters included in the study is not easily measured since such variables are non-quantifiable.

The limitations were anticipated to pose considerable threats when the gathered research data will be evaluated and consequently analysed. Besides, regardless of the fact that the chosen sample size of 120 students and teachers materialise to be exceptionally small given the type of research study to be carried out, the constraints such as the available financial resources and the planned timeframe makes it completely necessary to confine the study selected sample to the precisely specified size.

Discussion

According to the prior researches, various classroom engagement practices including the connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching have been found to significantly influence the students classroom engagement (Turner et al., 2014). Besides, the study was based on the assumption that connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching would have significant influence on the students engagement in classrooms. In fact, the study has confirmed the expectations.

The study findings send strong signals to the practitioners on the manner in which students should be engaged and get involved in classrooms (Cooper, 2014). The findings of the study also indicated that the classroom engagement increases with class levels. The implication is that the students engagements depended on the seniority and age. The expectations of the students by teachers as well as other stakeholders including parents play a critical role in shaping the concentration levels.

Besides, the study hypothesized that connective instruction practice, which are individualistic in nature, would play a greater role in influencing students engagement given the fact that the learners are in adolescent and identity is significant in their development at this stage. The findings on the parameter confirm the importance of age factor in determining the students classroom engagement.

The teaching practices used in class engagement encompass lively teaching, academic rigor as well as connective instruction. In fact, lively teaching involves the emphasis on vigorous delivery of instruction. Lively teaching incorporates the utilization of games and fun activities, group works and project coursework (Cooper, 2014).

In this regard, students are capable of trying novel concepts along with developing deeper insights concerning the program of study. On academic rigor, teaching is anchored on the educational measurements of a class. In other words, cognizance and focus form the basis of the learners tasks and learning surroundings. The delivery of challenging work and asserting students via academic press along with conveying passion content are the foundations on which academic rigor is laid. In fact, academic rigor focuses on hard work and academic achievement.

Concerning connective instruction, teachers often utilize evocative associations through enhancing individual connections among students to class. Undeniably, connective instruction creates a surrounding where teachers and students have personal connection to learning involvement and class matters (Turner et al., 2014). Generally, the teaching tools are significant aspects that aid in stimulating student engagements thereby booting out anxiety in puzzling courses as well as satisfying the responsive emptiness in reduced connective modules.

In terms of teachings practices, teachers should have positive perception towards the students in order to increase their engagement in class. In fact, most studies have identified teachers perception to have a significant influence on classroom engagement. While students may differ depending on individual characteristics, teachers should have a general positive view towards the students.

The positive view would boost their morale and self-esteem, which is critical in enhancing the students concentration in class. However, teachers should not ignore the importance of other factors in teaching practices including curricular activities. Generally, the mixtures of connective instructions, academic rigor and lively teaching are significant in enhancing the students engagement in class.

Conclusion

Classroom engagement remains critical in the academic success of students. As such, enhancing engagement among students cannot wholly depend on eccentric teaching methods. Besides, increased understanding of the manner in which various teaching practices influences students engagement enables practitioners to start modifying classes that would result in increased commitment among the students.

In fact, this study has classified and shown the manner in which various teaching practices influences the students classroom engagement. In addition, the study findings explain why the study is relevant to the education practitioners. Generally, this study supports various notions of connective instructions as one of the most valid strategy for enhancing classroom engagement. Therefore, the study findings can be applied in counselling psychology.

While the study has attained its current purpose, it is very limited in terms of scope design and resources. In fact, the anticipation of this study is that it should inform further research. Therefore, further studies should increase the scope of the study to make the results have reliable and valid conclusions. In addition, the study is limited to only few participants. In other words, increased number of participants selected from various areas and social classes need to be studied in order to come up with valid and reliable conclusion.

References

Cooper, K. (2014). Eliciting engagement in the High school classroom: A mix-methods examination of teaching practices. American Educational Research Journal, 51(2), 363-402.

Turner, J. C., Christensen, A., Kackar-Cam, H. Z., Trucano, M. & Fulmer, S. M. (2014). Enhancing students engagement: report of a 3-year intervention with middle school teachers. American Educational Research Journal, 3(2), 372-423.

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