Abstract
Middle school students’ experiences at after-school programs were compared as they participated in different types of activities and with different social partners. The students (N = 165) attended eight programs in three Midwestern states. A total of 1,596 experiences were randomly sampled using the Experience Sampling Method (ESM) during 1 week in the fall of 2001 and 1 week in the spring of 2002. Student engagement was conceptualized as the simultaneous experience of concentration, interest, and enjoyment. Students reported high levels of engagement while participating in sports activities and arts enrichment activities at the after-school programs, and low levels of engagement while completing homework at programs. They reported being more engaged in activities involving both adults and peers than activities with peers only. Concentrated effort, intrinsic motivation, and positive and negative mood states were also compared by program activities and social partners. Findings about participants’ subjective experiences and engagement in specific program activities have implications for understanding after-school programs as a context for youth development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
In terms of internal validity, studies have found the ESM to overreport and underreport a broad range of activities less than time diaries (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson 1987); that 94% of participants “never” or almost never alter the truth in responding to it (Larson and Richards 1994); and that 80–90% of participants claim that the self-reports captured their “normal” range of experience (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson 1987). In terms of face (or content) validity, studies have found a correlation of .93 between ESM and time diaries measures of ranked frequencies of time spent in different activities (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson 1987). With respect to situational validity, reports of being “active” with the ESM have been moderately correlated with measures of heart rate taken by activity monitors (Csikszentmihalyi and Larson 1987). In terms of reliability, or consistency of reported internal states, multiple studies have found moderate to high correlations between aggregated average activity estimates and ratings of experience reported by participants in the first half of a week compared to that reported in the second half of the same week (e.g., Csikszentmihalyi and Larson 1987).
This was calculated as the activity effect, γ 20 , divided by the square root of the residual level-1 variance.
References
Beck, E. L. (1999). Prevention and intervention programming: Lessons from an after-school program. Urban Review, 31, 107–124.
Bempechat, J. (2004). The motivational benefits of homework: A social-cognitive perspective. Theory into Practice, 43(3), 189–196.
Broh, B. A. (2002). Linking extracurricular programming to academic achievement: Who benefits and why? Sociology of Education, 75, 69–95.
Bryk, A. S., & Raudenbush, S. W. (2002). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Burton, J. M., Horowitz, R., & Abeles, H. (2000). Learning in and through the arts: The question of transfer. Studies in Art Education, 41, 228–257.
Cohen, J. (1992). A power primer. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 155–159.
Cooper, H. (1989). Homework. White Plains, NY: Longman.
Cooper, H., Lindsay, J. J., Nye, B., & Greathouse, S. (1998). Relationships among attitudes about homework, amount of homework assigned and completed, and student achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 90(1), 70–83.
Cooper, H., Robinson, J. C., & Patall, E. A. (2006). Does homework improve academic achievement? A synthesis of research, 1987–2003. Review of Educational Research, 76, 1–62.
Cooper, H., Valentine, J. C., Nye, B., & Lindsay, J. J. (1999). Relationships between five after-school activities and academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(2), 369–378.
Cosden, M., Morrison, G., Albanese, A. L., & Macias, S. (2001). When homework is not home work: After-school programs for homework assistance. Educational Psychologist, 36, 211–221.
Coutts, P. M. (2004). Meanings of homework and implications for practice. Theory into Practice, 43(3), 182–188.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: HarperPerennial.
Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention. New York: HarperCollins.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Kleiber, D. A. (1991). Leisure and self-actualization. In B. L. Driver, P. J. Brown, & G. L. Peterson (Eds.), Benefits of leisure (pp. 91–102). State College, PA: Venture.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1984). Being adolescent: Conflict and growth in the teenage years. New York: Basic Books.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., & Larson, R. (1987). Validity and reliability of the experience-sampling method. Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease, 175, 525–536.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., Rathunde, K., & Whalen, S. (1993). Talented teenagers: The roots of success and failure. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Dane, S., Can, S., Gursoy, R., & Ezirmic, N. (2004). Sport injuries: Relations to sex, sport, injured body region. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 98, 519–524.
Eccles, J. S. (1999). The development of children ages 6 to 14. Future of Children, 9, 30–44.
Eccles, J. S., & Barber, B. L. (1999). Student council, volunteering, basketball, or marching band: What kind of extracurricular involvement matters? Journal of Adolescent Research, 14(1), 10–43.
Eccles, J. S., & Gootman, J. A. (2002). Community programs to promote youth development. Washington DC: National Academy Press.
Fredricks, J. A., Alfred-Liro, C. J., Hruda, L. Z., Eccles, J. S., Patrick, H., & Ruan, A. M. (2002). A qualitative exploration of adolescents’ commitment to athletics and the arts. Journal of Adolescent Research, 17, 68–97.
Gould, D., Feltz, D. L., Horn, T., & Weiss, M. (1982). Reasons for discontinuing involvement in competitive youth swimming. Journal of Sports Behavior, 5, 155–165.
Hektner, J., Schmidt, J. A., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2007). Experience sampling method: Measuring the quality of everyday life. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Jordan, W. J. (1999). Black high school students’ participation in school-sponsored sports activities: Effects on school engagement and achievement. Journal of Negro Education, 68, 54–71.
Kirshnit, C. E., Ham, M., & Richards, M. H. (1989). The sporting life: Athletic activities during early adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 18, 601–615.
Lamborn, S. D., Brown, B. B., Mounts, N. S., & Steinberg, L. (1992). Putting school in perspective: The influence of family, peers, extracurricular participation, and part-time work on academic engagement. In F. M. Newmann (Ed.), Student engagement and achievement in American secondary schools (pp. 153–181). New York: Teachers College Press.
Larson, R. W. (2000). Toward a psychology of positive youth development. American Psychologist, 55, 170–183.
Larson, R. W., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1983). The experience sampling method. New Directions for Methodology of Social & Behavioral Science, 15, 41–56.
Larson, R. W., Hansen, D. M., & Moneta, G. (2006). Differing profiles of developmental experiences across types of organized youth activities. Developmental Psychology, 42, 849–863.
Larson, R. W., & Kleiber, D. (1993). Daily experience of adolescents. In P. H. Tolan & B. J. Cohler (Eds.), Handbook of clinical research and practice with adolescents (pp. 125–145). New York: Wiley.
Larson, R., & Richards, M. H. (1994). Divergent realities: The emotional lives of mothers, fathers, and adolescents. New York: Basic Books.
Larson, R. W., & Verma, S. (1999). How children and adolescents spend time across the world: Work, play, and developmental opportunities. Psychological Bulletin, 125, 701–736.
Leone, C. M., & Richards, M. H. (1989). Classwork and homework in early adolescence: The ecology of achievement. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 18, 531–548.
Mahoney, J. L. (2000). School extracurricular activity participation as a moderator in the development of antisocial patterns. Child Development, 71, 502–516.
Mahoney, J. L., & Cairns, R. B. (1997). Do extracurricular activities protect against early school dropout? Developmental Psychology, 33, 241–253.
Mahoney, J. L., Larson, R. W., & Eccles, J. S. (Eds.). (2005). Organized activities as contexts of development: Extracurricular activities, after-school and community programs. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Mahoney, J. L., Larson, R. W., Eccles, J. S., & Lord, H. (2005). Organized activities as development contexts for children and adolescents. In J. L. Mahoney, R. W. Larson, & J. S. Eccles (Eds.), Organized activities as contexts of development: Extracurricular activities, after-school and community programs (pp. 3–22). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Mahoney, J. L., Lord, H., & Carryl, E. (2005). An ecological analysis of after-school program participation and the development of academic performance and motivational attributes for disadvantaged children. Child Development, 76, 811–825.
Marsh, H. W. (1992). Extracurricular activities: Beneficial extension of the traditional curriculum or subversion of academic goals? Journal of Educational Psychology, 84, 553–562.
Marsh, H. W., & Kleitman, S. (2002). Extracurricular school activities: The good, the bad, and the nonlinear. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 464–514.
McLaughlin, M. W., Irby, M. A., & Langman, J. (1994). Urban sanctuaries: Neighborhood organizations in the lives and futures of inner-city youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Miller, B. M. (2003). Critical hours: After-school programs and educational success. Retrieved 6/14/06 from http://www.nmefdn.org/CriticalHours.htm.
National Center for Health Statistics (2005). Prevalence of overweight among children and adolescents: United States, 1999–2002. Retrieved 06/21/06 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/hestats/overwight99.htm.
Noam G. G. (Ed.). (2004). New directions for youth development: After school worlds: Creating a new social space for development and learning (Vol. 101). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
North, A. C., Hargreaves, D. J., & O’Neill, S. A. (2000). The importance of music to adolescents. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 70, 255–272.
Rathunde, K., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2005). Middle school students’ motivation and quality of experience: A comparison of montessori and traditional school environments. American Journal of Education, 111, 341.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.
Shernoff, D. J., Csikszentmihalyi, M., Schneider, B., & Shernoff, E. S. (2003). Student engagement in high school classrooms from the perspective of flow theory. School Psychology Quarterly, 18(2), 158–176.
Smoll, F. L., & Smith, R. E. (Eds.). (2002). Children and youth in sport: A biopsychological perspective. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of the Under Secretary. (2003). When schools stay open late: The national evaluation of the 21st century learning centers program, first year findings. Washington, DC.
Vandell, D. L., Pierce, K. M., & Dadisman, K. (2005). Out-of-school settings as a developmental context for children and youth. In R. V. Kail (Ed.), Advances in child development and behavior (Vol. 33, pp. 43–77). New York: Academic.
Vandell, D. L., Shernoff, D. J., Pierce, K. M., Bolt, D. M., Dadisman, K., & Brown, B. B. (2005). Activities, engagement, and emotion in after-school programs (and elsewhere). New Directions for Youth Development, 105, 121–129.
Vandell, D. L., & Shumow, L. (1999). After-school child care programs. Future of Children, 9, 64–80.
Wankel, L. M., & Kreisel, P. S. J. (1985). Factors underlying enjoyment of youth sports: Sports and age group comparisons. Journal of Sports Psychology, 7, 51–64.
Warton, P. M. (2001). The forgotten voices in homework: Views of students. Educational Psychologist, 36, 155–165.
Winner, E., & Hetland, L. (2000). The arts in education: Evaluating the evidence for a causal link. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 34, 3–10.
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by a grant from the C.S. Mott Foundation. We wish to thank Kimberly Dadisman as co-manager of the research project (with David J. Shernoff) on which this paper is based. We wish to thank Daniel M. Bolt and Jianbin Fu for their assistance with multilevel modeling. We also acknowledge the continued support of B. Bradford Brown and Kim Pierce as co-investigators (with Deborah Lowe Vandell) of the research project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shernoff, D.J., Vandell, D.L. Engagement in after-school program activities: quality of experience from the perspective of participants. J Youth Adolescence 36, 891–903 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9183-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-007-9183-5