Engaged by Design: Using Simulations to Promote Active Learning


Monica Bulger              Richard E. Mayer          Kevin C. Almeroth
School of Education        Dept of Psychology        Dept of Computer Science
Univ of California         Univ of California        Univ of California
Santa Barbara, CA 93106    Santa Barbara, CA 93106   Santa Barbara, CA 93106
mbulger@education.ucsb.edu mayer@psych.ucsb.edu      almeroth@cs.ucsb.edu

We test our hypothesis that student in-class Internet actions 
reflect their engagement levels. We predict that an engaging 
learning environment will result in students performing a higher 
number of on-task Internet activities. To test our hypothesis, 
we compare student behaviors during two types of instructional 
episodes. Students participate in either a traditional, 
lecture-based lesson or an interactive simulation exercise. To 
measure student engagement levels, we develop a Classroom 
Behavioral Analysis System (CBAS) that records all student 
computer actions during the observed class periods. We then 
count and label these actions as on-task or off-task, depending 
on relevance to the classroom activity. We find that students 
attending the simulation class perform a significantly higher 
number of on-task actions. These findings support our hypothesis 
that engaging lessons result in higher levels of on-task Internet 
activities. Equally important, CBAS accurately reflects student 
engagement levels and is therefore a promising tool for studying 
engagement.