Student engagement

Student engagement refers to student participation in learning activities inside and outside the classroom which leads to a range of measurable outcomes.

Engagement involves behavioural, emotional, and cognitive investment.

Key questions

 * What is the student doing to engage?
 * What is the staff-student dynamic doing to engage?
 * What is the institution/faculty/discipline/course/unit (instructors, structures, resources, timetables, usability etc.) doing to engage?

Why engage?

 * Research by Tinto (2000) showed that "engagement was the single significant predictor of persistence".
 * Improve learning
 * Improve throughput rates and retention
 * For equality/social justice
 * For curriculum relevance
 * For institutional benefit
 * As marketing - economics benefits of engagement

Planning for engagement
From Kraus (2005, pp. 12-14):
 * 1) Create and maintain a stimulating intellectual environment
 * 2) Value academic work and high standards
 * 3) Monitor and respond to demographic subgroup differences and their impact on engagement
 * 4) Ensure expectations are explicit and responsive
 * 5) Foster social connections
 * 6) Acknowledge the challenges
 * 7) Provide targeted self-management strategies
 * 8) Use assessment to shape the student experience and encourage engagement
 * 9) Manage online learning experiences with care
 * 10) Recognise the complex nature of engagement in your policy and practice

Teaching method for engagement

 * Academic challenge
 * Pre-reading
 * Higher-order thinking - Academically challenging
 * Active and collaborative learning
 * Active learning - physical movement
 * Peer interaction
 * A focus on outcomes
 * Research focused
 * Enriching educational experiences
 * WIL focused
 * Research focused
 * Student-faculty interaction
 * Personal
 * Staff interaction - rich communication