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A Case Study on How Meeting the Academic Needs of Students Substantially Below Grade Level in Mathematics Affects Their Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Engagement

This researcher examined an alternative classroom structure for ninth-grade students substantially below grade level (SBGL) in mathematics. This researcher considered whether targeting the academic and social needs of students SBGL in mathematics in a ninth-grade class would increase their self-efficacy and engagement with the mathematics by studying four teaching effects: teacher, teacher-curriculum, peer-curriculum, and peer.
The researcher used interviews, observations, and surveys to collect qualitative and quantitative data. The case study (n = 19) employed a QUAL + quan convergent parallel mixed methods case study. Meta-inferences from the analyses of qualitative and quantitative data indicate that the structure of the observed class increased in positive behaviors associated with self-efficacy, cognitive engagement, and behavioral engagement. While the data show an increase in emotional and social engagement, the quantitative data did not show a statistical significance in their increase.
These changes illustrated that these ninth-grade students recognized and willingly worked to close the gaps that they acknowledge they had in their mathematics understanding. Findings indicated that the convergent results of self-efficacy, cognitive engagement and behavioral engagement related to all four teaching effects. While qualitative data showed a strong positive change associated with the divergent results of social and emotional engagement, students self-reported little social and emotional peer influence in student interviews and student surveys.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:UTAHS/oai:digitalcommons.usu.edu:etd-8431
Date01 December 2018
CreatorsBurton, Lauren K. M.
PublisherDigitalCommons@USU
Source SetsUtah State University
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
SourceAll Graduate Theses and Dissertations
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