Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology
Interaction of initiating prompts and the patterns of student engagement in higher education biology classrooms
Hlologelo C. Khoza 1 * , Thato I. Makgata 1
More Detail
1 University of Pretoria, South Africa
* Corresponding Author
Open Access Full Text (PDF)
ARTICLE INFO

Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 2024 - Volume 6 Issue 2, pp. 64-77
https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426566

Article Type: Research Article

Published Online: 23 Apr 2024

Views: 199 | Downloads: 135

ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to understand the interactions of prompts used to initiate engagement and the resulting student engagement using video-data from one biology lecturer in a semester-long module. This study was informed by the socio-cultural perspectives on learning. The transcripts from video data were divided into interactive episodes. In these episodes, we looked for how the prompts (classified as verbal and non-verbal) interacted to bring student engagement. Findings indicate that the prompts interacted in a variety of ways. Findings indicate that the use of verbal prompts like questions resulted in minimal student engagement. Student engagement was heightened when the lecturer initiated whole-class discussion using both verbal prompts as well as non-verbal prompts in an interactive manner. We discuss the significance of these findings and argue how our approach to looking at student engagement helped us to unpack these succinct findings.
KEYWORDS
In-text citation: (Khoza & Makgata, 2024)
Reference: Khoza, H. C., & Makgata, T. I. (2024). Interaction of initiating prompts and the patterns of student engagement in higher education biology classrooms. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 6(2), 64-77. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426566
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Khoza HC, Makgata TI. Interaction of initiating prompts and the patterns of student engagement in higher education biology classrooms. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 2024;6(2), 64-77. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426566
In-text citation: (1), (2), (3), etc.
Reference: Khoza HC, Makgata TI. Interaction of initiating prompts and the patterns of student engagement in higher education biology classrooms. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology. 2024;6(2):64-77. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426566
In-text citation: (Khoza and Makgata, 2024)
Reference: Khoza, Hlologelo C., and Thato I. Makgata. "Interaction of initiating prompts and the patterns of student engagement in higher education biology classrooms". Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology 2024 6 no. 2 (2024): 64-77. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426566
In-text citation: (Khoza and Makgata, 2024)
Reference: Khoza, H. C., and Makgata, T. I. (2024). Interaction of initiating prompts and the patterns of student engagement in higher education biology classrooms. Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, 6(2), pp. 64-77. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426566
In-text citation: (Khoza and Makgata, 2024)
Reference: Khoza, Hlologelo C. et al. "Interaction of initiating prompts and the patterns of student engagement in higher education biology classrooms". Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology, vol. 6, no. 2, 2024, pp. 64-77. https://doi.org/10.33902/jpsp.202426566
REFERENCES
  • Adams, J., Chin, T. Y., & Tan, P. H. (2020). Talking to learn science: Examining the role of teacher talk moves around visual representations to learn science. Learning: Research and Practice, 6(1), 19-33. https://doi.org/10.1080/23735082.2020.1750671
  • Ainsworth, S., & Newton, L. (2014). Teaching and researching visual representations: Shared vision or divided worlds? Science teachers’ use of visual representations, 8, 29-49. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-06526-7_2
  • Alkhouri, J. S., Donham, C., Pusey, T. S., Signorini, A., Stivers, A. H., & Kranzfelder, P. (2021). Look who's talking: Teaching and discourse practices across discipline, position, experience, and class size in STEM college classrooms. BioScience, 71(10), 1063-1078. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biab077
  • Arnold, L. (2019). Accompanying as accomplices: Pedagogies for community engaged learning in sociocultural linguistics. Language and Linguistics Compass, 13(6), e12329. https://doi.org/10.1111/lnc3.12329
  • Buma, A., & Nyamupangedengu, E. (2020). Investigating teacher talk moves in lessons on basic genetics concepts in a teacher education classroom. African journal of research in mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 24(1), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2020.1731647
  • Buma, A., & Nyamupangedengu, E. (2023). Investigating the quality of enacted pedagogical content knowledge by mapping out component ınteractions: a case study of a teacher educator teaching basic genetics. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 34(8), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2022.2158267
  • Chin, C. (2007). Teacher questioning in science classrooms: Approaches that stimulate productive thinking. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(6), 815–843. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.20171
  • Correnti, R., Stein, M. K., Smith, M., Scherrer, J., McKeown, M., Greeno, J., & Ashley, K. (2015). Improving teaching at scale: Design for the scientific measurement and development of discourse practice. In L. Resnick, C. Asterban, & S. Clarke (Eds.), Socializing intelligence through academic talk and dialogue (pp. 315–334). AERA. https://doi.org/10.3102/978-0-935302-43-1_25
  • Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2017). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Sage publications.
  • DeLiema, D., Hufnagle, A., Rao, V. V., Baker, J., Valerie, J., & Kim, J. (2023). Methodological innovations at the intersection of video-based educational research traditions: Reflections on relevance, data selection, and phenomena of interest. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 46(1), 19-36. https://doi.org/10.1080/1743727X.2021.2011196
  • Dressman, M., & Sadler, R. W. (Eds.). (2019). The handbook of informal language learning. John Wiley & Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119472384
  • Evagorou, M., Erduran, S., & Mäntylä, T. (2015). The role of visual representations in scientific practices: from conceptual understanding and knowledge generation to ‘seeing’how science works. International journal of Stem education, 2(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-015-0024-x
  • Gilbert, J. K. (2010, April). The role of visual representations in the learning and teaching of science: An introduction. Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning & Teaching, 11(1), 1-19.
  • Gillies, R. M., Nichols, K., Burgh, G., & Haynes, M. (2014). Primary students’ scientific reasoning and discourse during cooperative inquiry-based science activities. International Journal of Educational Research, 63, 127–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2013.01.001
  • Hall, T. (2020). After the rural idyll: representations of the British countryside as a non-idyllic environment. Geography, 105(1), 6-17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00167487.2020.12094083
  • Halverson, L. R., & Graham, C. R. (2019). Learner engagement in blended learning environments: A conceptual framework. Online Learning, 23(2), 145-178. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v23i2.1481
  • Hardman, J. (2019). Analysing student talk moves in whole class teaching. International Handbook on Dialogic Education. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429441677-14
  • Hargreaves, D. H. (1984). Teachers’ questions: Open, closed and half-open. Educational Research, 26(1), 46–51. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013188840260108
  • Helme, S., & Clarke, D. (2001). Identifying cognitive engagement in the mathematics classroom. Mathematics Education Research Journal, 13(2), 133-153. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03217103
  • Hymers, D., & Newton, G. (2019). Investigating student engagement in first-year biology education: A Comparison of major and non-major perception of engagement across different active learning activities. Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 10(1), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2019.1.7993
  • Kayima, F., & Jakobsen, A. (2020). Exploring the situational adequacy of teacher questions in science classrooms. Research in Science Education, 50(2), 437-467. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-018-9696-9
  • Khoza, H. C. (2023). Teacher noticing as a driver of interaction patterns in science classrooms. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 7(1), 53-66. https://doi.org/10.33902/JPR.202318784
  • Khoza, H. C., & Msimanga, A. (2022). Understanding the nature of questioning and teacher talk moves in interactive classrooms: A case of three South African teachers. Research in Science Education, 52(6), 1717-1734. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-021-10024-8
  • Khoza, H. C., & Nyamupangedengu, E. (2018). Prompts used by biology lecturers in large lecture group settings to promote student interaction. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(3), 386-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2018.1542553
  • Khoza, H. C. (2024). Dialogue with students as a valuable tool in teacher inquiry for professional development: A narrative of a novice science teacher educator learning about student interaction in biology classrooms. Journal of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 24(1), 44-57.
  • Kivunja, C., & Kuyini, A. B. (2017). Understanding and applying research paradigms in educational contexts. International Journal of higher education, 6(5), 26-41. https://doi.org/10.5430/ijhe.v6n5p26
  • Kranzfelder, P., Bankers-Fulbright, J. L., García-Ojeda, M. E., Melloy, M., Mohammed, S., & Warfa, A. R. M. (2020). Undergraduate biology instructors still use mostly teacher-centered discourse even when teaching with active learning strategies. BioScience, 70(10), 901-913. https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaa077
  • Lodge, J. M., Kennedy, G., Lockyer, L., Arguel, A., & Pachman, M. (2018). Understanding difficulties and resulting confusion in learning: An integrative review. Frontiers in Education, 3, Article 49. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2018.00049
  • Moore, M.G., & Kearsley, G. (2011). Distance Education: A Systems View of Online Learning. Cengage Learning.
  • Nawaz, S., Kennedy, G., Bailey, J., & Mead, C. (2020). Moments of confusion in simulation-based learning environments. Journal of Learning Analytics, 7(3), 118-137. https://doi.org/10.18608/jla.2020.73.9
  • Pedler, M., Hudson, S., & Yeigh, T. (2020). The teachers' role in student engagement: A review. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 45(3), 48-62. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2020v45n3.4
  • Ramli, M., & Yohana, M. P. (2018). Classroom Interaction: Teacher and Students Perception on Dialogue in Primary Science Classroom. Edusains, 10(1), 127-134. https://doi.org/10.15408/es.v10i1.8092
  • Reiser, B. J., Brody, L., Novak, M., Tipton, K., & Sutherland Adams, L. M. (2017). Asking questions. In C. V. Schwarz, C. M. Passmore, & B. J. Reiser (Eds.), Helping students make sense of the world through next generation science and engineering practices (pp. 87–134). NSTA Press
  • Renninger, K. A., & Bachrach, J. E. (2015). Studying triggers for interest and engagement using observational methods. Educational Psychologist, 50(1), 58-69. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2014.999920
  • Sedova, K., Sedlacek, M., Svaricek, R., Majcik, M., Navratilova, J., Drexlerova, A., Kychler, J. & Salamounova, Z. (2019). Do those who talk more learn more? The relationship between student classroom talk and student achievement. Learning and instruction, 63, 101217. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2019.101217
  • Tang, K. S. (2017). Analyzing teachers’ use of metadiscourse: The missing element in classroom discourse analysis. Science Education, 101(4), 548-583. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21275
  • Taylor, R. (2014). Meaning between, in and around words, gestures and postures–multimodal meaning-making in children's classroom discourse. Language and education, 28(5), 401-420. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2014.885038
  • Tytler, R., & Aranda, G. (2015). Expert teachers’ discursive moves in science classroom interactive talk. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 13(2), 425–446. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-015-9617-6
  • Valenzeno, L., Alibali, M. W., & Klatzky, R. (2003). Teachers’ gestures facilitate students’ learning: A lesson in symmetry. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 28(2), 187-204. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0361-476X(02)00007-3
  • Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes. Harvard University Press.
  • Vygotsky, L. S. (1979). Consciousness as a problem in the psychology of behavior. Soviet psychology, 17(4), 3-35. https://doi.org/10.2753/RPO1061-040517043
  • Wertsch, J. V. (1993). Voices of the mind: Sociocultural approach to mediated action. Harvard University Press. https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674045101
  • Wood, A. K., Galloway, R. K., Sinclair, C., & Hardy, J. (2018). Teacher-student discourse in active learning lectures: case studies from undergraduate physics. Teaching in Higher Education, 23(7), 818-834. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2017.1421630
  • Zabel, J., & Gropengiesser, H. (2015). What can narrative contribute to students’ understanding of scientific concepts, eg evolution theory?. Journal of the European Teacher Education Network, 10, 136-146.
LICENSE
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.