ICT in Learning: Negotiating Criteria to Measure Engagement

There is a national expectation in Australia that ICT will be used to increase student engagement with learning. With increased ICT use comes increasing claims of engagement but only limited research to demonstrate that engagement has occurred. In a pilot project to integrate ICT into learning at an independent K-12 school in regional NSW, teachers and pre-service teachers were teamed with university lecturers to co-investigate student engagement. Co-planned and implemented ICT-supported learning experiences for students in Years 3 to 11 covered a diversity of ICT applications and curriculum areas. The research involved longitudinal data collection recording the level of engagement of students. Critical to this research was the development of relevant criteria to measure engagement. The research team met to develop a shared understanding of three dimensions (behavioural, emotional and cognitive) of engagement and to negotiate a set of criteria to measure engagement. This paper presents details of the unfolding shared understanding of engagement, of the negotiation process necessary to produce an agreed set of criteria, and of the criteria produced. The co-development of the criteria proved to be a rewarding learning experience for all the researchers and to be a fitting preparation for the in-class data collection.