Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study
This study used systematic observation to test the direct and moderating effects of class size on children’s momentary behavioural engagement in learning. Data were collected with 632 children (50.6% girls) in 121 classrooms in 92 schools recruited into the Children’s School Lives national cohort s...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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EARLI
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Frontline Learning Research |
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| Online Access: | https://flr.journals.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1431 |
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| author | Jennifer Symonds Ricardo Boheim Matthew Somerville Edward Baines Xin Tang Niamh Oeri Raven Rinas Florian Buehler Gertraud Benke Aisling Davies Seaneen Sloan Dympna Devine Gabriella Martinez Sainz |
| author_facet | Jennifer Symonds Ricardo Boheim Matthew Somerville Edward Baines Xin Tang Niamh Oeri Raven Rinas Florian Buehler Gertraud Benke Aisling Davies Seaneen Sloan Dympna Devine Gabriella Martinez Sainz |
| author_sort | Jennifer Symonds |
| collection | DOAJ |
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This study used systematic observation to test the direct and moderating effects of class size on children’s momentary behavioural engagement in learning. Data were collected with 632 children (50.6% girls) in 121 classrooms in 92 schools recruited into the Children’s School Lives national cohort study of Irish primary schooling. The Observational and Research Classroom Learning Evaluation (ORACLE) systematic observation tool was used to observe individual children’s behaviour at 30-seconds intervals across a five-minute period in ordinary lessons of English, mathematics, science and Irish. Multilevel path models identified that behavioural engagement was higher in smaller classes and behavioural disengagement was higher in larger classes. Class size also moderated the impact of several individual differences and classroom composition factors on momentary behavioural engagement. For example, smaller classrooms protected lower ability children from disengaging whereas higher ability children were more likely to stay engaged in larger classes compared to lower ability children. Implications for research, practice and policy are discussed.
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| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-1dd34a3f2c6f46eab837436877ff581a |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2295-3159 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | EARLI |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontline Learning Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-1dd34a3f2c6f46eab837436877ff581a2025-08-20T02:05:25ZengEARLIFrontline Learning Research2295-31592025-03-0113210.14786/flr.v13i2.1431Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study Jennifer Symonds0Ricardo Boheim1Matthew Somerville2Edward Baines3Xin Tang4Niamh Oeri5Raven Rinas6Florian Buehler7Gertraud Benke8Aisling Davies9Seaneen Sloan10Dympna Devine11Gabriella Martinez Sainz12University College London, United KingdomTechnical University of Munich, GermanyUniversity College London, United KingdomUniversity College London, United KingdomShanghai Jiao Tong University, ChinaUniversity of Bern, SwitzerlandUniversität Augsburg, GermanyUniversity of Bern, SwitzerlandUniversity of Klagenfurt, AustriaUniversity College Dublin, IrelandUniversity College Dublin, IrelandUniversity College Dublin, IrelandUniversity College Dublin, Ireland This study used systematic observation to test the direct and moderating effects of class size on children’s momentary behavioural engagement in learning. Data were collected with 632 children (50.6% girls) in 121 classrooms in 92 schools recruited into the Children’s School Lives national cohort study of Irish primary schooling. The Observational and Research Classroom Learning Evaluation (ORACLE) systematic observation tool was used to observe individual children’s behaviour at 30-seconds intervals across a five-minute period in ordinary lessons of English, mathematics, science and Irish. Multilevel path models identified that behavioural engagement was higher in smaller classes and behavioural disengagement was higher in larger classes. Class size also moderated the impact of several individual differences and classroom composition factors on momentary behavioural engagement. For example, smaller classrooms protected lower ability children from disengaging whereas higher ability children were more likely to stay engaged in larger classes compared to lower ability children. Implications for research, practice and policy are discussed. https://flr.journals.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1431Ability, Class size,Behavioural engagement,Observation,Momentary engagement |
| spellingShingle | Jennifer Symonds Ricardo Boheim Matthew Somerville Edward Baines Xin Tang Niamh Oeri Raven Rinas Florian Buehler Gertraud Benke Aisling Davies Seaneen Sloan Dympna Devine Gabriella Martinez Sainz Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study Frontline Learning Research Ability, Class size, Behavioural engagement, Observation, Momentary engagement |
| title | Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study |
| title_full | Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study |
| title_fullStr | Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study |
| title_short | Children’s Momentary Behavioural Engagement and Class Size: A National Systematic Observation Study |
| title_sort | children s momentary behavioural engagement and class size a national systematic observation study |
| topic | Ability, Class size, Behavioural engagement, Observation, Momentary engagement |
| url | https://flr.journals.publicknowledgeproject.org/index.php/journal/article/view/1431 |
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