Measuring Engineering Students' In-class Cognitive Engagement: Survey Development informed by Contemporary Educational Theories

摘要

In this research paper, we examine the development of an instrument designed to measure students' in-class cognitive engagement. Cognitive engagement is a critical aspect of success in an engineering program; students who are more engaged are more likely to succeed. However, understanding how and in what ways engagement takes place remains a challenge. In this study, we describe the development of a survey informed by an existing theoretical framework that links overt, behavioral indicators to cognitive states of engagement. In this description, we present the results of an initial factor analysis, articulate the differences between anticipated factor structure and actual structure as a result of that analysis, and identify the improvements made from subsequent iterations of the survey. Results from the factor analyses suggest that in-class engagement should be defined and conceptualized as a combination of behavioral and cognitive scales, rather than either scale alone. However, further iterations are needed to arrive at a final composite measure of engagement at the student- and course-levels.