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1. Exploring social and cognitive engagement in small groups through a community of learners (CoL) lens

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D3RP00071K  

   Nennig, H.; States, N.; Macrie-Shuck, M.; Fateh, S.; Gunes, Z.; Cole, R.; Rushton, G.; Shah, L.; Talanquer, V. (June 2023, Chemistry Education Research and Practice)

   A variety of research studies reveal the advantages of actively engaging students in the learning process through collaborative work in the classroom. However, the complex nature of the learning environment in large college general chemistry courses makes it challenging to identify the different factors that affect students’ cognitive and social engagement while working on in-class tasks. To provide insights into this area, we took a closer look at students’ conversations during in-class activities to characterize typical discourse patterns and expressed chemical thinking in representative student groups in samples collected in five different learning environments across four universities. For this purpose, we adapted and applied a ‘Community of Learners’ (CoL) theoretical perspective to characterize group activity through the analysis of student discourse. Within a CoL perspective, the extent to which a group functions as a community of learners is analyzed along five dimensions including Community of Discourse (CoD), Legitimization of Differences (LoD), Building on Ideas (BoI), Reflective Learning (RL), and Community of Practice (CoP). Our findings make explicit the complexity of analyzing student engagement in large active learning environments where a multitude of variables can affect group work. These include, among others, group size and composition, the cognitive level of the tasks, the types of cognitive processes used to complete tasks, and the motivation and willingness of students to substantively engage in disciplinary reasoning. Our results point to important considerations in the design and implementation of active learning environments that engage more students with chemical ideas at higher levels of reasoning. 

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2. Investigating patterns of student engagement during collaborative activities in undergraduate chemistry courses

   https://doi.org/10.1039/D1RP00227A  

   Reid, Joshua W.; Kirbulut Gunes, Zubeyde Demet; Fateh, Shaghayegh; Fatima, Adan; Macrie-Shuck, Michael; Nennig, Hannah T.; Quintanilla, Fabrizzio; States, Nicole E.; Syed, Ahmad; Cole, Renee; et al (January 2022, Chemistry Education Research and Practice)

   Several studies have highlighted the positive effects that active learning may have on student engagement and performance. However, the influence of active learning strategies is mediated by several factors, including the nature of the learning environment and the cognitive level of in-class tasks. These factors can affect different dimensions of student engagement such as the nature of social processing in student groups, how knowledge is used and elaborated upon by students during in-class tasks, and the amount of student participation in group activities. In this study involving four universities in the US, we explored the association between these different dimensions of student engagement and the cognitive level of assigned tasks in five distinct general chemistry learning environments where students were engaged in group activities in diverse ways. Our analysis revealed a significant association between task level and student engagement. Retrieval tasks often led to a significantly higher number of instances of no interaction between students and individualistic work, and a lower number of knowledge construction and collaborative episodes with full student participation. Analysis tasks, on the other hand, were significantly linked to more instances of knowledge construction and collaboration with full group participation. Tasks at the comprehension level were distinctive in their association with more instances of knowledge application and multiple types of social processing. The results of our study suggest that other factors such as the nature of the curriculum, task timing, and class setting may also affect student engagement during group work. 

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3. Student interaction discourse moves: characterizing and visualizing student discourse patterns

   https://doi.org/10.1186/s43031-022-00068-9  

   Nennig, Hannah T.; States, Nicole E.; Montgomery, Marika T.; Spurgeon, Sidney G.; Cole, Renée S. (December 2023, Disciplinary and Interdisciplinary Science Education Research)

   Abstract Student-centered instruction allows students to take ownership over their learning in the classroom. However, these settings do not always promote productive engagement. Using discourse analysis, student engagement can be analyzed based on how they are interacting with each other while completing in-class group activities. Previous analyses of student engagement in science settings have used methods that do not capture the intricacies of student group interactions such as the flow of conversation and nature of student utterances outside of argumentation or reasoning. However, these features are important to accurately assess student engagement. This study proposes a tiered analytical framework and visualization scheme for analyzing group discussion patterns that allow for a detailed analysis of student discourse moves while discussing scientific topics. This framework allows a researcher to see the flow of an entire conversation within a single schematic. The Student Interaction Discourse Moves framework can be used to extend studies using discourse analysis to determine how student groups work through problems. 

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4. Let Students Work: Analysis of the Role of Differing Facilitation on Student Engagement in a Large Stadium-Style Lecture Hall

   https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00750  

   States, Nicole E; Lovig, Carson; Martin, Karsten; Nennig, Hannah T; Cole, Renée S (November 2023, Journal of Chemical Education)

   The classroom environment is shaped by factors such as facilitation style, curricular design, and classroom layout. These factors are all inputs into student framing of the classroom environment and affect a student’s comfort interacting within it. Promoting student discourse in active learning environments provides students the opportunity to explain their thinking and develop their understanding of natural phenomena. However, successfully implementing these practices in large lecture environments is often difficult. Undergraduate introductory chemistry lectures were investigated to identify the effects that instructional practices had on student engagement. Instructor facilitation, question level, and student interactions were analyzed and compared to provide insights into what instructional practices may promote or hinder student engagement in a large enrollment course. Overall instructors were positioning themselves as an authority on knowledge in the classroom by leading questions authoritatively like instructor-focused didactic lecturing that led to a decrease in student engagement. These results highlight the complexity of the classroom ecosystem related to student interactions and the role that facilitation plays in social and cognitive engagement. 

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5. “You get to tinker with your brain”: Middle school students’ perspectives on three-dimensional, phenomenon-driven assessments

   Herrmann-Abell, Cari F; Deverel-Rico, Clarissa; Olson, Patricia; Wilson, Christopher D (March 2025, National Association for Research in Science Teaching International Conference)

   In response to reform efforts to center students’ interest and identity in the context of assessment, we pilot tested a set of three-dimensional, phenomenon-driven assessment tasks and asked students to respond to additional items that prompted them to reflect on their experience with the tasks. Using a qualitative approach, we analyzed written responses from 502 middle school students across the United States. Through inductive and deductive coding, we developed a comprehensive framework that captures students' experiences across five dimensions: cognitive engagement, affective engagement, relevance to students’ lives, beyond-classroom connections, and assessment design and features. By exploring these dimensions, the framework aims to provide a comprehensive lens for understanding how students experience science assessments, revealing key insights into the factors that influence their engagement and learning. Ultimately, this framework can serve as a practical tool for educators and researchers to analyze and improve science assessments by centering students' voices, thereby fostering deeper learning, promoting student agency, and supporting all learners. 

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