Symposium 6. Student Engagement: Opportunities, Techniques and Consequences

Symposium Abstract

High motivation and engagement in learning have consistently been linked to reduced dropout rates and increased levels of student success (Blank, 1997; Dev, 1997; Kushman, 2000; Woods, 1995). Yet, keeping students interested in school and motivating them to succeed are challenges that present themselves year after year to even the most seasoned teachers. There are many factors that contribute to students interest and level of engagement in learning. In this symposium we will focus on four aspects of engagement beginning with the first year experience which forms the critical transition from secondary school to university. Research has shown that teachers can influence student motivation; that certain practices can make assigned work more engaging and more effective for students at all levels (Anderman & Midgley, 1998; Dev, 1997; Skinner & Belmont, 1991). Our second presentation will examine some of these useful practices. The third presentation in this symposium will describe assessment techniques that can be used to measure student engagement and relate engagement to student performance. The final presentation in the symposium will examine the flip side of engagement – alienation, that can occur when students fail to become engaged.

Individual Paper Abstracts

STUDENT ENGAGEMENT: CONSIDERING THE TRANSITION
Sue Purnell, University of Liverpool, UK

PROMOTING STUDENT ENGAGMENT IN THE CLASSROOM
Richard L. Miller & Martin Demoret, University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA

USING THE NATIONAL SURVEY OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT TO ASSESS EDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Jeanne Butler, University of Nebraska at Kearney, USA

ALIENATION: THE OTHER SIDE OF ENGAGEMENT
Sarah Mann, University of Glasgow, UK