The influence of teachers’ need-support profiles on students’ collective engagement in science classes: An observational study based on self-determination theory

Abstract

This study aims to reveal the need-support profiles of science teachers by using three variables (teachers’ autonomy support, involvement, and structure support), as well as the role of the teachers with such profiles in students’ collective engagement. Within the scope of the study, first of all, the observation form developed by Reeve, Jang, Carrell, Jeon, and Barch (2004) was adapted into Turkish. Then, 41 science lessons taught by different teachers were observed using the form during a class hour. Descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, and independent samples t-tests were performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 to analyze the data. The cluster analysis showed that teachers in most classes (n = 35) were highly need-supportive, while a few teachers (n = 6) were moderately need-supportive. The independent samples t-test analysis demonstrated that the collective engagement of the students in the classrooms where the teachers were highly need-supportive was more than those of the students in the classrooms where the teachers were moderately need-supportive. Students’ collective engagement varied according to the teachers’ need-supportive profiles. In other words, it can be assumed that teacher behaviors play a crucial role in students’ collective engagement.

Keywords

• Teachers’ autonomy support
• Teachers’ involvement
• Teachers’ structure support
• Students’ collective engagement
• Science education