Student Engagement
Working with today's students to build good academic habits and ethos in the digital world.
A changing dynamic in Higher Education
According to a McGraw Hill survey of 120 instructors across UK, Ireland and Europe conducted in July 2024…
of respondents agree or strongly agree that they have noticed a marked change in student behaviour over the past 5 years
of respondents agree or strongly agree that in-person attendance at lectures is very low after a couple of weeks
of respondents agree or strongly agree that the majority of their students don't seem to do the required preparation for class
Students arriving in Higher Education today are very different to those of generations past. They are a product of the information age, where short form media proliferates, and speed and efficiency are King.
On top of this, today’s students have experienced a prolonged period of remote learning, which seems to be having a lingering impact on their attitudes towards classroom based, synchronous learning.
All of which is exacerbated by cost-of-living factors that make Higher Education less accessible and are causing many to question the value of those extra years of study – especially in a continually changing world where the employment picture seems so unstable.
Such a tangled web of factors means there is no silver bullet that will easily solve the problem of student engagement. However, our experience working with universities across the world has revealed several tactics for setting students off on the right path to build good academic habits for success.
Access from Day 1
Access to course materials on the first day of class improves the quality and extent of learning but with most students opting out of buying their core text what can you do to give them the best chance?
Tracking engagement
Faced with undergraduate classes numbering into the hundreds, how do you keep track of how students are doing – especially in a hybrid world with declining attendance on campus?
Academic reading
It is important to remember what it is like not to know things! How can we stop students feeling like reading is an unwelcome chore, or worse, a source of anxiety?
Download the Framework
Our Student Engagement Framework is comprised of three building blocks that can help institutions address declining levels of engagement with set work intended for completion outside of class. We've created a list of statements to help you evaluate where your institution stands against our framework. They are designed to guide you toward a starting point for new initiatives, and to that end, are as simple as 123.
