Date
7-4-2023
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
Chair
Kevin Struble
Keywords
Student Engagement, Student Achievement, Family and Consumer Sciences, FACS, Residential Learning
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Milks, Chelsea Jade, "The Cause-Effect Relationship Between Student Engagement and Numerical Scores in Residential Higher Education FACS Courses" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 4609.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4609
Abstract
The presence of student engagement is believed to increase student achievement. Student achievement can be measured by school attainment, student attitudes, retention rates, course depletion, and numerical grades. Studies have examined the effect of student engagement on student achievement in online and blended modalities, but minimally in face-to-face learning. Researchers have inspected the relationship between student engagement, achievement, and program retention in residential Family and Consumer Sciences (FACS) programs, with the belief that greater engagement in these programs can improve retention and achievement scores. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to examine the relationship between student engagement and numerical grade scores between residential Family and Consumer Sciences courses. A total of 172 participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. Two groups of FACS students, interior design and family and child development, were surveyed using the Perceptions of Student Engagement instrument. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance was performed to compare engagement scores with numerical grade scores between the two groups. The result of the MANOVA between the groups on the combined dependent variables were statistically significant and the null hypothesis was rejected at a 95% confidence level where F(2, 164) = 11.68, p <.01, partial η2 = .125. The effect size as measured by partial eta squared was extremely large. Suggestions for future research include repeating the study at other higher education FACS programs, between broader groups of residential classes, and examining the impact of instructional pedagogy methods on student engagement and achievement in residential learning.
