Strategic approaches to student engagement in higher education

Abstract

The notion of “engagement” has attracted much interest in higher education in recent times. Important questions have been raised about strategies for dealing with apparently “disengaged” students, and whether there is any value in doing more or different things in an effort to enhance student engagement. This presentation will explore some of these issues after providing a brief overview of the state of play in the student engagement arena. It will challenge the idea that engagement in higher education is a simple one-size-fits-all notion, focusing particularly on implications of the widening participation agenda for engagement practices. The importance of staff engagement will also be explored as part of an emphasis on whole-of-university strategies to encourage partnerships in the learning process.