Students' Perceptions of Lesson Design Impact on Engagement at the Elementary and Secondary Levels

Student engagement is a critical piece of student success in the classroom. Most research focuses on either students' overall perceptions of their engagement levels at school, or on teachers' perceptions of their students' engagement levels. Data such as drop-out rates, attendance rates, grades, and participation in activities are often used to assess a student's level of engagement. If students are surveyed, the surveys often are general and provide more of a global view of school involvement. This study examined students' levels of engagement during a specific lesson on a specific day. Teachers designed a lesson using one of Schlechty's ten design qualities, and then asked students to report on their levels of engagement during that lesson using response choices of engaged 'most of the time,' 'some of the time,' and 'not at all.' Data were collected at the secondary and elementary levels. The purpose of this study was to see which instructional design qualities yielded the greatest levels of student engagement at the elementary and secondary levels. This study concluded that the design qualities of Affirmation and Authenticity yielded the highest student engagement feedback at the elementary level and Novelty and Variety and Affiliation yielded the highest student engagement feedback at the secondary level.