Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6771-2873
Defense Date
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Education
First Advisor
Christine Lee Bae
Second Advisor
Jennifer LoCosale-Crouch
Third Advisor
Jacob Whitehill
Fourth Advisor
Chi-Ning Chang
Abstract
Student engagement and participation in classroom discourse are widely recognized as powerful predictors of meaningful science learning, yet students’ own perspectives on the factors that shape their engagement and participation are currently underexamined. Prior research has established strong links between engagement, discourse and outcomes such as academic achievement (Bae & DeBusk-Lane, 2019; Fredricks et al., 2004; Sedova et al., 2019), but less is known about how students understand and interpret their experiences across individual, group-level and classroom contexts, particularly within historically marginalized populations (Cook-Sather, 2013; Schaefer et al., 2024). This three paper dissertation advances a line of inquiry integrating a systematic review and two student-centered mixed methods studies integrating quantitative, qualitative and computational methods with the goal of better understanding student perspectives on engagement and participation in middle school science classrooms.
Rights
© The Author
Is Part Of
VCU University Archives
Is Part Of
VCU Theses and Dissertations
Date of Submission
4-28-2026