Student engagement as a topic for research, enhancement or general discussion, remains a priority in higher education institutions, as efforts continue to focus on and support student learning, achievement and outcomes. In 2024, there are many student engagement conundrums facing us, as questions persist relating to why students are (or are not) attending classes, what should be the balance between online and in-person education, and how much support is needed in post-18 adult education? There is a general consensus amongst educators, which is supported by the literature, that if students are highly engaged, they are more likely to succeed and achieve better outcomes than they would have if they were less engaged. However, defining the right amount, or level, of student engagement, let alone where we set the boundaries for what constitutes as such, is difficult, particularly when there are so many moving parts to our multifaceted institutions.
When beginning discussions around the topic of student engagement, it is first important to understand that there are several areas of engagement which we can consider or research. There are dominant definitions or areas of activity at our universities, where pressure to measure student engagement through indicators such as attendance is a top priority for many of our institutions, where for international students legally have to engage through attendance to meet visa requirements - formerly Tier 4 Visas in the UK. Related to this, many universities are increasingly exploring so-called ‘student engagement’ dashboards, which draw on wider data sources such as engagement with the Virtual Learning Environment or the library. In addition to these contact related engagement points, those working in students’ unions or student experience roles will also relate the term student engagement to the vast array of student voice and extra-curricular initiatives.
As you are probably starting to appreciate, it can quickly become a tangled web of terminology and possible associated meanings and activities when exploring the topic of student engagement. However, the multiple meanings and vast array of forms it can take are also its strength as they provide multiple lenses through which to better understand our students, their engagement and what is meaningful for them in their higher education experience. That being said, it is, however, important at the start of this blog series to offer a sense making opportunity for readers, rather than revelling in the ambiguity for too long. Building on the themes of Trowler’s 2010 literature review of student engagement, the below highlights the four realms of student engagement to help frame an understanding of student engagement. If you are working on a course or in a student service at a university, then taking time to consider all four aspects would be important to improve or reflect on student engagement in your context.
Four areas of student engagement to consider (in no particular order):
Emotional Engagement: This is how/what students feel. Whether they are happy or sad; satisfied or not satisfied; with a sense of belonging or not belonging; mattering or not; including and excluded. Perhaps only measurable for social research methods such as surveys or interviews.
Cognitive Engagement: This is how/what students learn/know. All of the wonderful words from Blooms Taxonomy we see in our learning outcomes and what teaching staff assess both informally in the classroom and formally through formative and summative assessment.
Behavioural Engagement: This is what students do – both physically and digitally. Of course, the register of attendance is perhaps the first measure of behavioural engagement, where digital engagement indicators in the form of student analytics have followed in recent decades, giving us a wider breadth of possible measures of behavioural engagement.
Student Voice, Co-Design or Partnership Engagement: This is how/when we engage students in the development of education across our providers. This can be as simple as an in-class discussion about the course, to module evaluations, course representatives, and co-researching with students as partners.
No matter the ‘type’ or ‘indicator’ of student engagement you are discussing, researching or innovating in your context, my top tip is to be clear from the start. Begin discussions with some defining phrases, such as, “let’s talk about student engagement in regards to…”, as this will give you the clarity to hold productive conversations in your institutions and save ambiguity getting in the way productive and meaningful discussions. If you do not define the way you are understanding or positioning student engagement from the start, you may have some wonderful (but long!) conversations about student engagement that end up being at cross purposes as you were understanding it to be referring to distinct areas.
This series of blogs across the months ahead will explore student engagement in contemporary higher education, sharing my thoughts on a long-standing priority in a field which is continuously developing. The way we engage with wider society is changing, particularly with regard to how we engage with services, shopping, viewing content and searching for information. It can be of no great surprise that so too is the way our students are engaging with knowledge and universities as a whole. This means that the modern university is going to need to change too. In my opinion, student engagement provides us with perhaps one of the most useful lenses to explore such developments and the future of higher education.
About the author:
Tom Lowe has researched and innovated in student engagement across diverse settings for over ten years, in areas such as student voice, retention, employability and student-staff partnership. Tom works at the University of Westminster as Assistant Head of School (Student Experience) in Finance and Accounting where he leads on student experience, outcomes and belonging. Tom is also the Chair of RAISE, a network for all stakeholders in higher education for researching, innovating and sharing best practice in student engagement. Prior to Westminster, Tom was a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Portsmouth, and previously held leadership positions for engagement and employability at the University of Winchester. Tom has published two books on student engagement with Routledge; ‘A Handbook for Student Engagement in Higher Education: Theory into Practice’ in 2020 and ‘Advancing Student Engagement in Higher Education: Reflection, Critique and Challenge’ in 2023, and has supported over 40 institutions in consultancy and advisory roles internationally.
Recommended further readings on student engagement:
Lowe, T., 2023. Advancing Student Engagement in Higher Education: Reflection, Critique and Challenge. London: Routledge.
Schnitzler, K., Holzberger, D. and Seidel, T., 2021. All better than being disengaged: Student engagement patterns and their relations to academic self-concept and achievement. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 36(3), pp.627-652.
Snijders, I., Wijnia, L., Rikers, R.M. and Loyens, S.M., 2020. Building bridges in higher education: Student–faculty relationship quality, student engagement, and student loyalty. International Journal of Educational Research, 100, p.101538.
