Student engagement

Our work

Student engagement has been defined as ‘the process whereby institutions and sector bodies make deliberate attempts to involve and empower students in the process of shaping the learning experience’ (Higher Education Funding Council for England 2008: Tender for a study into student engagement 22 April 2008, Bristol: HEFCE). Essentially the idea is to get the students involved in the delivery of their education, either knowingly or subconsciously, in order to improve the quality of their education.

The range of Student engagement activities is varied and diverse within engineering. Student engagement could include surveying the student cohort for their feedback on teaching methods and classes at one end of the scale, to providing funding for research into effective student led activities or developing and changing an entire course. Student engagement might even take on a more developed partnership approach, where by students and staff collaborate as partners to develop and enhance the learning experience. Many of these activities are taking place within institutions already but there are practices that could be enhanced and adapted to suit other HEIs up and down the UK.

'Dimensions of Student Engagement'

The diagram below illustrate the spectrum of student engagement devised by the Higher Education Academy to show where student engagement can occur. Visit the HEA website for more information on the 'Dimensions of Student Engagement'.

The student experience

The student experience is central to the quality of education in the UK and by engaging with their students, institutions can develop their provision to suit the evolving needs of their cohort. The Engineering Subject Centre works with academic staff to increase the involvement of students in their curriculum.

What we do

The Centre plays a central role in facilitating research within institutions into how the student experience can be enhanced. By providing funding for mini-projects, publishing case studies, close ties with professional bodies, and the annual Teaching Awards scheme the Centre strives to promote effective practice across all UK Institutions with the ultimate aim of improving the student experience.

Students engaged in their own learning through formal academic study.
Self reflection about their own learning.
Participation in extra curricular activities.
Learning with and from their peers.

What we offer to support this ...

Student employability guides and other resources.
Numerous resources and projects an example can be found here.
Mini-Project funding.
Articles in the Journal.
Numerous case studies including those within the Engineering Graduates for Industry report.

Students involved in the design and delivery of their own learning- Project and Problem based learning.
Evaluation during course with rapid feedback and response.
Students participating in research projects.
Students generating materials for others to use.

We support this through;

Offering workshops for Post graduates who teach.
Employability work.
Mini-Project funding to capture student feedback, and to pilot new pedagogic techniques.
Teaching International Students

Student membership of discipline focused student networks.
Membership of professional body, subject centre or discipline advisory groups.
Subject in discipline specific pedagogic research, focus groups and surveys.
Membership of professional accreditation panels.
Student surveys and focus groups.
SPARQS networks.
Subject Centre student essay competition.

All of the Centre’s work is discipline focused however the Student engagement activities that can be classified as discipline wide include:

Student membership of the Centre’s advisory board.
The Student Essay competition.
The Close ties with professional bodies, namely promotion of Teaching Awards,
Project collaboration and similar schemes with professional bodies for example the Engineering Graduates for Industry report.
Journal, newsletter, Translate and other dissemination tools used to promote and share practice to the sector.

Student rep membership on school committees / faculty boards.
Staff - Student Liaison Committees.
Evaluation (usually questionnaires) at programme and course level.
Student involvement in internal subject review.

The Centre provides support at departmental level including:

Working with Department workshops.
Mini-Project funding.
Support for new staff
Staff development and professional development opportunities.

Have you got a good example of student engagement that we could share? Have you worked collaboratively with students to develop part of the curriculum or revise how a course is delivered? Are there examples of student-led use of new technology in learning or innovative ways to address feedback issues? If so please contact us.