1. Student Engagement Data in the UK: Policy and Practice
Dr Alex Buckley
University of Strathclyde

2. Plan for talk What is student engagement?
Development of the UK Engagement Survey
How is UKES data used?
Engagement and learning gain

3. What is student engagement?
“The term [‘student engagement’] covers two domains relating to:
improving the motivation of students to engage in learning and to learn independently
the participation of students in quality enhancement and quality assurance processes, resulting in the improvement of their educational experience”
(QAA 2012)
“This Chapter is related to the participation of students in quality enhancement and quality assurance processes”

4. What is student engagement?
Student engagement in US, Canada, Australasia, is about…
“the time and energy students devote to…activities that matter to learning and student success.” (McCormick et al 2013)
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) themes:
Academic challenge
Learning with peers
Experiences with faculty
Campus environment

5. Development of the UK Engagement Survey
Run by HEA
Voluntary participation, free to HEA subscribing institutions
Results are confidential to institutions
Administered online
Around 50 questions
Two question types: activity frequency and course emphasis

6. Development of the UK Engagement Survey
Compulsory questions
Critical thinking
Collaborative learning
Staff-student interaction
Reflective and integrative learning
Course challenge
Optional questions
Engagement with research
Staff-student partnerships
Skills development
Time spent on activities

7. Development of the UK Engagement Survey
Participating institutions
Student responses
2013 9
8,500
2014 32
25,500
2015 24
24,500
2016 31
???

8. How is UKES data used? 10 case studies from 2013:
Canterbury Christ Church University
Oxford Brookes University
University of Bath
Cardiff Metropolitan University
University of Oxford
King’s College London
University of Warwick
Kingston University
York St John University
Manchester Metropolitan University

9. How is UKES data used? Challenges: Institutional investment
Tension over responsibility
Actionable data
Response rates, benchmarking

10. How is UKES data used? Challenges: Institutional investment
“It is far easier to sign up for a survey offered by an outside entity…than to orchestrate a series of complex conversations with different groups on campus about what the findings from these data mean and what actions might follow.” (Blaich and Wise 2011)
Challenges:
Institutional investment
Tension over responsibility
Actionable data
Response rates, benchmarking

11. How is UKES data used? Challenges: Institutional investment
Tension over responsibility
Actionable data
Response rates, benchmarking
“College is basically a voluntary activity… This is why the quality of effort, which one might also think of as quality of initiative, is so important at the college level… [C]ollege can’t give you an education; but if you go to college, and fully use the facilities and opportunities it provides, you can get an education” (Pace 1982)

12. How is UKES data used? Challenges: Institutional investment
Tension over responsibility
Actionable data
Response rates, benchmarking
“The focus on behaviour is both concrete and actionable: when results fall short of what is desired, the behavioural measures suggest avenues of intervention.” (McCormick et al 2013)

13. Engagement data and learning gain
“There is a rapidly growing evidence base in the US about the impact on educational gains of changes in evidence-based educational processes… There is no such evidence base in the UK.” (Gibbs 2010)

14. Engagement data and learning gain
Examples of staff good practice
Provide timely feedback
Check to see if students learned the material before moving on to new material
Develop organized classes and presentations
Provide clear explanations of course goals and requirements
Ensure that students work hard to prepare for their classes and are required to read and write a substantial amount of material
Challenge students to analyze and synthesize information and make judgments about ideas, experiences, and theories
Ask students to integrate ideas and information from different sources and to include diverse perspectives in their work
Ask students to examine the strengths and weakness of their ideas and to understand someone else’s view by imagining how an issue looks from his or her perspective
(Blaich and Wise 2011)

15. Engagement data and learning gain
How much has your overall student experience contributed to your knowledge, skills and personal development in the following areas?
Writing clearly and effectively
Speaking clearly and effectively
Thinking critically and analytically
Analysing numerical and statistical information
Acquiring employability skills (eg skills to help you get a job such as CV writing or career planning)
Becoming an independent learner
Being innovative and creative
Working effectively with others
Developing or clarifying personal values or ethics
Understanding people of other backgrounds (economic, racial/ethnic, political, religious, nationality, etc.)
Exploring complex real-world problems
Being an informed and active citizen

16. Engagement data and learning gain
How much has your overall student experience contributed to your knowledge, skills and personal development in the following areas?

17. Engagement data and learning gain
Core skills scale:
Writing clearly and effectively
Speaking clearly and effectively
Thinking critically and analytically
Analysing numerical and statistical information
Acquiring employability skills (eg skills to help you get a job such as CV writing or career planning)
Becoming an independent learner
Soft skills scale
Being innovative and creative
Working effectively with others
Developing or clarifying personal values or ethics
Understanding people of other backgrounds (economic, racial/ethnic, political, religious, nationality, etc.)
Exploring complex real-world problems
Being an informed and active citizen

18. Engagement data and learning gain
Biological sciences 2200, engineering and technology 1000, business and admin 1800, creative arts 1400

19. Engagement data and learning gain

20. References
Blaich, C. and Wise, K. (2011). “From gathering to using assessment results: Lessons from the Wabash National Study”. National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment Occasional Paper 8
Gibbs, G. (2010) Dimensions of Quality. York, Higher Education Academy.
McCormick, A., Kinzie, J. and Gonyea, R. (2013) “Student engagement: Bridging research and practice to improve the quality of undergraduate education” in M.B. Paulsen (ed.), Higher Education: Handbook of Theory and Research, 28. (Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Springer)
Pace, R. (1982) Achievement and the quality of student effort (Department of Education, Washington DC)
QAA. (2012). UK Quality Code for Higher Education, Chapter B5: Student engagement. Gloucester, Quality Assurance Agency.