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If you were one of the students who took part in the online survey, you may have wondered why we needed so many words to describe your engagement with learning activities! Why so many words? The answer lies in seeing the subtle differences that are often hidden within a broad concept such as ‘engagement’. TheContinue reading “Why do we need so many words to measure engagement?”

“It’s all about being different” In the Great British Bake Off, contestant Lizzie created an amazing cake that celebrated difference and was inspired by her experience of ADHD and dyslexia. In describing the cake, she explained “it’s all about being different” – expressed through a different way of using colour, pattern, texture. Importantly, it makesContinue reading “When does inspiration for education research come in cake form?”

‘engagement’, RDoC, and barriers to inclusion Based on a presentation to the Cambridge Neuroscience Journal Club in January 2021 What does neuroscience tell us about the experience of autism? There is a wealth of research and findings from the field of autism neuroscience, indicating differences associated with autism in a wide range of aspects ofContinue reading “Frameworks for connecting neuroscience to education”

This project aims to explore barriers to inclusion for autistic pupils, so why is it ‘engagement’ that’s being measured? Early work on the project explored barriers to inclusion more broadly (Bailey & Baker, 2020). The emerging priority was to address a lack of literature on positive aspects of educational experience – what makes educational provisionContinue reading “Why measure ‘engagement’?”

TThe Self-Report Measure of Engagement with Learning Activities (MELA-SR) was initially developed and tested over the summer of 2020. We found that this multi-component low-inference, non-judgmental measure of engagement is feasible for use with online survey methods such as Qualtrics. Our new measure is quick, intuitive and sensitive to context and to individual differences. WhatContinue reading “What did the pilot study find?”

Who are the researchers behind this innovative study, taking a different approach to understanding difference? Developing a new measure of engagemnet with learning activities is the aim of the PhD project of Julie Bailey. Julie is a former secondary school teacher and head of sixth form who now supports students at the University of CambridgeContinue reading “Who are the researchers?”