Student Engagement & Academic Outcomes:

Evidence from Cognitive Research

Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.

January 24, 2014

www.poojaagarwal.com @poojaagarwal

Critical Questions

• What is student engagement?

• How can we improve student engagement, learning, and academic outcomes?

1 52 43

Which one is the real penny?

6 107 98

Exposure ≠ Engagement

How do you study or teach?

Write down your top 3 strategies.

Engagement Strategies That Don’t Work

• Re-reading textbook chapters

• Note-taking, highlighting, and underlining

• Reviewing notes

• Lecturing

Illusion of Engagement

• Rapid, easy engagement = poor long-term learning

• Slower, challenging engagement = durable long-term learning

Challenges = Engagement!

Engagement Strategies That DO Work

1. Retrieval Practice

2. Distributed Practice

3. Interleaved Practice

Learning Activities

(Encoding)

Long-Term Memory

(Storage)

Assessment

(Retrieval)

We assume all learning

takes place here.

Learning Activities

(Encoding)

Long-Term Memory

(Storage)

Assessment

(Retrieval)

But learning takes place here, too!

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

Do concept maps engage students and

improve science learning?

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)

Concept Maps vs. Retrieval Practice

Concept Maps vs. Retrieval Practice

Study Once Repeated Study Concept Mapping Retrieval Practice0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

27%

49%45%

67%

Exa

m P

erfo

rman

ce A

fter

1 W

eek

Does retrieval engage students and improve higher order learning?

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Remember

Understand

Apply

Analyze

Evaluate

Create

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)

Higher Order Learning

Repeated Study Higher Order Quizzes Mixed Quizzes0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

56%

75%82%

Exa

m P

erfo

rman

ce A

fter

2 D

ays

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

Engagement Strategies That DO Work

1. Retrieval Practice

2. Distributed Practice

3. Interleaved Practice

Do challenging engagement strategies

increase student anxiety?

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)

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

More6%

About the Same22%

Less72%

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

More19%

About the Same48%

Less33%

Did these strategies help you learn?

Yes92%

No8%

Critical Questions

• What is student engagement?

Strategies that challenge students

• How can we improve student engagement, learning, and academic outcomes?

Retrieval, spacing, and interleaving

Three Potential Pitfalls

1. Fluency (current performance) is a bad predictor of future performance

2. Students/teachers may be unwilling to exert extra effort required for effective strategies

3. Students/teachers may abandon effective strategies after perceiving them to be ineffective

Implications for State Boards

• Standards, Curriculum, & Instruction• Special Education Services• English Language Learners• Student Assessment & Performance• Educator Preparation & Development• Teacher Evaluation• School & District Improvement

Get Involved!

• The Effective Learning Initiative

• Retrieval Practice Guide

• Stay in touch!

www.poojaagarwal.com @poojaagarwal