A new conceptual and analytic framework for collective engagement in mathematics

Abstract

This paper proposes a new social construct and conceptual-analytic framework for the study of group engagement in mathematics, which we call collective engagement structures. This new framework is offered to address research and practice-identified needs to better understand how individual student dispositions and preferences might interact with group processes to inform student engagement and learning. We demonstrate the collective engagement structures framework using a case study analysis of three middle school students working in a group on a complex mathematics problem. Our analysis details how three students’ individual engagement structures and positional influence interact to form two collective engagement structures: Follow The Leader and Let's Figure This Out. Our findings indicate that students’ collective engagement may present itself in identifiable and patterned ways, providing fresh theoretical and practical insight into how to better structure group-centered instruction.