Student Engagement & Academic Outcomes: Evidence from Cognitive Research

1. Student Engagement & Academic Outcomes: Evidence from Cognitive Research Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D. January 24, 2014 @poojaagarwal www.poojaagarwal.com

2. Critical Questions • What is student engagement? • How can we improve student engagement, learning, and academic outcomes?

3. Which one is the real penny? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

4. Exposure ≠ Engagement

5. How do you study or teach? Write down your top 3 strategies.

6. Engagement Strategies That Don’t Work • Re-reading textbook chapters • Note-taking, highlighting, and underlining • Reviewing notes • Lecturing

7. Illusion of Engagement • Rapid, easy engagement = poor long-term learning • Slower, challenging engagement = durable long-term learning

8. Challenges = Engagement!

9. Engagement Strategies That DO Work • Retrieval Practice • Distributed Practice • Interleaved Practice

10. We assume all learning takes place here.

11. But learning takes place here, too!

12. What is retrieval practice? • Opportunity to “call” information to mind • Focus on bringing info out, instead of trying to get information in • Examples: Flashcards, practice problems, short low-stake quizzes

13. Do concept maps engage students and improve science learning?

14. Science Learning in College • 80 college students • Four engagement groups: Study Once Repeated Study Concept Mapping Retrieval Practice • Exam after 1 week Karpicke & Blunt (2011)

15. Concept Maps vs. Retrieval Practice

16. Concept Maps vs. Retrieval Practice

17. Does retrieval engage students and improve higher order learning?

18. Remember Bloom’s Taxonomy • Understand • Apply • Analyze • Evaluate • Create

19. 6th Grade Social Studies • 88 6th grade students • Three engagement strategies: Repeated Study Higher Order Retrieval Fact + Higher Order Retrieval • Higher Order Exam after 2 days Agarwal (2014)

20. Higher Order Learning

21. Encourage Retrieval Practice • Provide frequent low-stake retrieval • Always provide feedback • Use a variety of questions (e.g., definition, application, fact, higher order) • Don’t drop from your flashcard stack • Don’t cheat! You must retrieve the answer

22. Engagement Strategies That DO Work • Retrieval Practice • Distributed Practice • Interleaved Practice

24. Do challenging engagement strategies increase student anxiety?

25. Student Anxiety? • 1,410 6-12th grade students • Data collected over 6 years (2008-2013) • End-of-year survey about using retrieval, spacing, and interleaving strategies Agarwal et al. (2014)

26. Did these strategies make you more or less nervous for unit tests?

27. How anxious were you in this class compared to other classes?

28. Did these strategies help you learn?

29. Critical Questions • What is student engagement? Strategies that challenge students • How can we improve student engagement, learning, and academic outcomes? Retrieval, spacing, and interleaving

30. Three Potential Pitfalls • Fluency (current performance) is a bad predictor of future performance • Students/teachers may be unwilling to exert extra effort required for effective strategies • Students/teachers may abandon effective strategies after perceiving them to be ineffective

31. Implications for State Boards • Standards, Curriculum, & Instruction • Special Education Services • English Language Learners • Student Assessment & Performance • Educator Preparation & Development • Teacher Evaluation • School & District Improvement

32. Get Involved! • The Effective Learning Initiative • Retrieval Practice Guide • Stay in touch! @poojaagarwal www.poojaagarwal.com