Enhancing Student Engagement – what are we talking about? Graham Gibbs Research Centre for Student Engaged Educational Development

Video – FASTECH project What kind of engagement is this? Who is engaged with what? Who benefits? What are the benefits?

Questions to discuss What kind of engagement is this? Who is engaged with what? Who benefits? What are the benefits?

Nine different forms of engagement – each with different methods, goals and benefits

1 Engagement as ‘academic and social integration’ that affects retention University of Oxford vs Open University Issue: how to improve student retention by increasing ‘integration’ Tinto

2 Engagement with studying that affects learning –Close contact with teachers –Time on task –Deep approach –Clear and high expectations –Collaborative learning Issue: how to improve student learning gains Astin: ‘What matters in College?’ Chickering and Gamson: ‘7 Principles of good practice in undergraduate education’ Gibbs: ‘Dimensions of Quality’

3 Engagement as a PI: the National Survey of Student Engagement Engagement is whatever the NSSE measures Issue: how to improve NSSE scores Pascarella and Terenzini

HEA NSSE Scale 3: Academic integration In your experience at your institution during the current academic year, about how often have you done each of the following? Response categories: Very often / Often / Sometimes / Never Asked questions or contributed to course discussions in other ways Discussed your academic performance and/or feedback with teaching staff Discussed ideas from your course with teaching staff outside taught sessions, including by /online Discussed ideas from your course with others outside of taught sessions (students, family members, co-workers, etc.), including by /online Talked about your career plans with teaching staff or advisors

4 Engagement with extra curricula activities Engagement with the world outside the institution (volunteering, work experience) Engagement with student activities (Student Union) Issue: How to improve engagement outside of studying, on the assumption that this improves learning gains Kuh

5 Engagement with the academic democratic community Engagement in committees, elections, decision- making (Bath, Roehampton) Scandinavian academic values (Lund, Oslo) Issue: How to involve students as junior members of a community that values democracy

6 Engagement in Quality Assurance Representation of ‘the student experience’ to course teams (student rep training) Student feedback questionnaires (Coventry) Student reps running feedback sessions (Winchester) QAA beefing up audit expectations Issue: How to give students an influential voice in the identification of teaching quality problems

7 Engagement in Quality Enhancement and educational development Undertaking educational evaluation or research (Winchester) Acting as change agents (Exeter) Involvement in curriculum design (Berlin, Hatfield, Oxford Poly) Issue: How to make teaching improvement more effective (and cost-effective)

8 Engagement with teaching roles and functions Self and peer assessment Peer tutoring Peer mentoring and contributions to student support Learning materials production Issue: How to improve teaching, learning and assessment by students undertaking what are normally academic teaching roles

9 Engagement with research No relationship between Dept research strengths and student engagement Projects and dissertations, research skills training (inside courses) Research internships (MIT) (outside courses) Inclusion in ‘community of research practice’ e.g. Earth Sciences, Oxford Issue: how to enhance students’ research aspirations and capacities so that they are more likely to want to become (effective) researchers.

Nine different forms of engagement 1.Academic and social integration 2.Engagement in studying 3.Engagement as a PI 4.Engagement in extra-curricula activities 5.Engagement in academic democracy 6.Engagement in quality assurance 7.Engagement in educational development 8.Engagement with teaching roles 9.Engagement with research

How is engagement levered? 1.Ascribing status and titles to roles 2.Offering academic credit 3.Offering non-credit-bearing awards 4.Offering bursaries (or pay) 5.Volunteering opportunities 6.Culturally

Who benefits? 1.The student who engages 2.All students on the module, or the degree (next time it runs) or across a whole institution The Research Centre for Student Engaged Educational Development is concerned to influence the learning environment so that others benefit, through better teaching, assessment, curricula etc

What are the benefits? 1.The QAA gets better QA processes 2.The NUS, and all students, get more influence 3.MIT gets a better reputation for the employability of its graduates in research jobs 4.Universities get better outcomes: employability, retention, NSS scores...and pass QAA Audit 5.Students learn skills and build stronger cvs 6.Pedagogic effectiveness improves and the student experience of teaching improves The Research Centre for Student Engaged Educational Development is concerned with greater pedagogic effectiveness

Degree programme at Winchester using TESTA, now top ranked nationally NSS QuestionBeforeAfterIncrease 7Feedback on my work has been prompt 69%90%21% 8I have received detailed comments on my work 58%81%23% 9Feedback on my work has helped me... 46%71%25% 22Overall Satisfaction82%94%12%

Question for discussion What kind of evidence would convince you that the form of student engagement you are interested in fostering had ‘worked’?