ECR Projects

Explore past and current fundamental STEM education research projects across the three research areas that NSF's EDU Core Research (ECR) program funds, as well as across ECR funding types. Other search filters draw from both NSF's data and the ECR Hub's hand coding of award abstracts.

Ninth-grade biology students create cell models using clay.

Home > ECR Projects Search > Project Detail
STEM Learning and Learning Environments STEM Learning and Learning Environments  

Secondary Mathematics, in-the-moment, Longitudinal Engagement Study

Effective Years: 2017-2021

The EHR Core Research program emphasizes fundamental STEM education research that will generate foundational knowledge in the field. This study will investigate high school students' experiences of engagement with mathematics and their motivation to learn, and the ways that classroom instructional climates do or do not support productive engagement with mathematics. As an important effort to help improve student achievement in mathematics nationally, this study will be grounded in three critical areas (motivation, affect, and social interactions), which are essential to both student performance in mathematics and to their success in other STEM fields. Since few studies have investigated these critical areas at the high school level, this study will initiate long-term, large-scale, experience-level analysis that will advance knowledge in the field. The research will build on prior studies that suggest that students are more motivated and engaged with learning mathematics when: (1) mathematics makes sense and when students believe that they are capable of making sense of mathematics; (2) mathematics and situations in which the mathematics is set are interesting to students; (3) students feel safe and supported to take intellectual risks; (4) effort and understanding are promoted over a performance culture; and (5) students feel that they matter, their ideas and themselves as people, to their teacher and their peers.

To accomplish these goals, the study will develop profiles of climate characteristics that are more (or less) engaging based on observations of classroom instruction and students' behavior. Both quantitative and qualitative analysis of students' perceptions of their classroom climates and day-to-day experiences will be done. This will allow researchers to map growth in student motivation and engagement as well as how a series of in-the-moment experiences, situated within classroom climate profiles, contribute to students' tendencies to engage and perform productively in mathematics. The project will develop a mobile app to study students' experiences in the moment, building Experience Sampling Methodology (EMS.) Qualitative interviews and observations of case studies will also be used to capture students' engaged behaviors and perceptions of opportunities to become absorbed in the moment experiences. Data from these sources will complement and validate the larger-scale longitudinal analyses. Outcomes from this research will advance understanding about high school students' motivation and engagement toward mathematics. The mobile application will be supplemented by prompts, scales, and observational protocols to guide researchers in further study of in-the-moment engagement. Profiles of engaging instructional climates and profiles of high school students' growth in motivation will be used to pilot professional development for teachers of diverse student populations. This research will also develop modules for teacher professional development and will be delivered to online for use by the at-large education community.