Measuring student engagement: findings from the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) Surveys for Enhancement Conference National College for School Leadership, Nottingham 19 May 2011 Ali Radloff Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)

Elite Mass Universal Little data available on university students Focus on satisfaction & retention data Focus on effectiveness data

Why measure student engagement? And what is student engagement?

A student-centred perspective that reflects the wide range of academic and non-academic interactions that students have with their institution Individuals learn and develop through behavioural,cognitive and affective involvement with key educational practices People learn and develop when staff and institutions provide support likely to encourage involvement Student effort + institution and teacher support = desirable outcomes Established; relatively easy to assess; direct connections to improvement; built on research foundations; looks at change between years A compelling idea Link between students’ engagement and retention, completion and success as graduates

A key assumption is that learning is influenced by how an individual participates in educationally purposeful activities. Students are seen as responsible in their learning, but institutions and staff also need to generate conditions that stimulate student involvement.

Developed over a decade, Australasia now has a source of quality-assured data on current students that is comparable across institutions Production of contextually nuanced reports, research briefings and enhancement guides Actionable institution reports for tracking and improvement More robust cross-institutional research techniques Commitment to measuring what counts for high-quality education

Engagement scales Engagement scales -A-Academic Challenge -A-Active Learning -S-Student and Staff Interactions -E-Enriching Educational Experiences -S-Supportive Learning Environment -W-Work Integrated Learning Outcome measures -H-Higher Order Thinking -G-General Learning Outcomes -G-General Development Outcomes -C-Career Readiness -A-Average Overall Grade -D-Departure Intentions -O-Overall Satisfaction

Run with 55 universities and other institutions in 2010 Undergraduate, coursework postgrad and academic staff Over 120,000 student responses Benchmarks with other institutions in Australasia and internationally Data on what students are doing Used for continuous improvement

International benchmarks - engagement scales first year students

Engagement & outcomes – international & domestic students

Engagement & outcomes – external & on- campus students

Hours spent on various activities during typical seven-day week

Hours spent on various activities during typical seven-day week - by time spent in paid work off campus

Involvement in active forms of learning

‘Never’ given presentation in class or online – by broad field of education

Involvement in active forms of learning – by mode of study

Student and staff interactions

Later year students’ involvement in enriching educational experiences

Later year students – contribution of university experience to development of work-related knowledge and skills

Student departure intentions

All studentsInternational students External students Working students Considered or plan to leave before completing 29.6% 27.2%33.9%31.5% Boredom Personal reasons Study-life balance Health or stress Difficulty with workload Personal reasons Academic exchange Quality concerns Boredom Financial difficulties Study-life balance Difficulty with workload Health or stress Needing paid work Family responsibilities Boredom Study-life balance Needing paid work Personal reasons Health or stress

Student departure intentions – link with institution support

Change through reporting

Change through data collection

Change through research

Measuring student engagement: findings from the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) Surveys for Enhancement Conference National College for School Leadership, Nottingham 19 May 2011 Ali Radloff Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER)