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Measuring student engagement: findings from the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) Surveys for Enhancement Conference National College for School Leadership, Nottingham 19 May 2011 Ali Radloff Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) ausse@acer.edu.au Slide 2 Elite Mass Universal Little data available on university students Focus on satisfaction & retention data Focus on effectiveness data Slide 3 Why measure student engagement? And what is student engagement? Slide 4 A student-centred perspective that reflects the wide range of academic and non-academic interactions that students have with their institution Individuals learn and develop through behavioural,cognitive and affective involvement with key educational practices People learn and develop when staff and institutions provide support likely to encourage involvement Student effort + institution and teacher support = desirable outcomes Established; relatively easy to assess; direct connections to improvement; built on research foundations; looks at change between years A compelling idea Link between students engagement and retention, completion and success as graduates Slide 5 A key assumption is that learning is influenced by how an individual participates in educationally purposeful activities. Students are seen as responsible in their learning, but institutions and staff also need to generate conditions that stimulate student involvement. Slide 6 Slide 7 Developed over a decade, Australasia now has a source of quality-assured data on current students that is comparable across institutions Production of contextually nuanced reports, research briefings and enhancement guides Actionable institution reports for tracking and improvement More robust cross-institutional research techniques Commitment to measuring what counts for high-quality education Slide 8 Engagement scales Engagement scales -A-Academic Challenge -A-Active Learning -S-Student and Staff Interactions -E-Enriching Educational Experiences -S-Supportive Learning Environment -W-Work Integrated Learning Outcome measures -H-Higher Order Thinking -G-General Learning Outcomes -G-General Development Outcomes -C-Career Readiness -A-Average Overall Grade -D-Departure Intentions -O-Overall Satisfaction Slide 9 Run with 55 universities and other institutions in 2010 Undergraduate, coursework postgrad and academic staff Over 120,000 student responses Benchmarks with other institutions in Australasia and internationally Data on what students are doing Used for continuous improvement Slide 10 International benchmarks - engagement scales first year students Slide 11 Engagement & outcomes international & domestic students Slide 12 Engagement & outcomes external & on- campus students Slide 13 Hours spent on various activities during typical seven-day week Slide 14 Hours spent on various activities during typical seven-day week - by time spent in paid work off campus Slide 15 Involvement in active forms of learning Slide 16 Never given presentation in class or online by broad field of education Slide 17 Involvement in active forms of learning by mode of study Slide 18 Student and staff interactions Slide 19 Later year students involvement in enriching educational experiences Slide 20 Later year students contribution of university experience to development of work-related knowledge and skills Slide 21 Student departure intentions Slide 22 All studentsInternational students External students Working students Considered or plan to leave before completing 29.6% 27.2%33.9%31.5% Boredom Personal reasons Study-life balance Health or stress Difficulty with workload Personal reasons Academic exchange Quality concerns Boredom Financial difficulties Study-life balance Difficulty with workload Health or stress Needing paid work Family responsibilities Boredom Study-life balance Needing paid work Personal reasons Health or stress Slide 23 Student departure intentions link with institution support Slide 24 Slide 25 Change through reporting Slide 26 Change through data collection Slide 27 Change through research Slide 28 Slide 29 Measuring student engagement: findings from the Australasian Survey of Student Engagement (AUSSE) Surveys for Enhancement Conference National College for School Leadership, Nottingham 19 May 2011 Ali Radloff Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) ausse@acer.edu.au