AP Statistics Students’ Conceptions of Engagement and Technology in a Flipped Classroom: A Phenomenographical Study

The purpose of this dissertation was to study student engagement and disengagement within an AP Statistics course using flipped classroom strategies. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding, Dewey’s Active Learning Theory, the Microsystem of Student Engagement in a Flipped Classroom, and the Framework for Engagement with Mathematics were the theoretical foundation for this study. A phenomenographical methodology was followed to answer the question: How do AP Statistics students experience engagement in the flipped classroom? as well as the sub questions: Which learning experiences help to engage students and why? And which learning experiences contribute to student disengagement and why? Data was collected through student interviews and journals. Interviews were analyzed phenomenographically, and student journals were analyzed using thematic analysis. This analysis was done iteratively as a whole and in parts to establish categories of description, which developed an outcome space to form the students’ conceptions of engagement. This outcome space included social, cognitive, and affective dimensions of engagement; students’ internal motivation was also included. Student journals supported elements of the outcome space. This study also found elements of student affective, cognitive, and behavioral disengagement. Social engagement was coded the most often in student interviews and journals. Students’ engagement came from collaborative, active learning activities and projects. These findings helped address the lack of studies in K-12 settings on social engagement, especially in a secondary math classroom and support that engagement is a multi-dimensional construct with behavioral, affective, cognitive, and social dimensions, with social engagement being the most important to students. Teachers should actively engage students in classroom activities that allow them to work with their peers, incorporate technology, and provide them with choices and opportunities to apply the knowledge they learned with authentic real-world activities. Moreover, statistics teachers can engage students by providing opportunities for students to collect and use data in learning. Future directions for research are also discussed