A Meta‐analysis of the Relationship between Science Instruction and Student Engagement

Abstract

A meta‐analysis of the relationship between science instruction and student engagement was performed. A total of 16 studies in science education was coded which yielded 39 instructional variables totalling 102 correlation coefficients, the mean coefficient 0#lb48, the SD 0#lb35. The 16 studies represented a total of 4518 students and 376 teachers from the United States and Australia. The meta‐analysis found no significant differences across the instructional variables with respect to student engagement. Similarly the instruction‐engagement relationship did not show significant differences across range of grade levels, year of publication, sample size and the instruments to measure student engagement, except for the instruments to measure instruction.