Student engagement: how to measure and improve it

For many students, following a course looks like attending classes and listening to the teacher for the duration of the lesson. But learning is about something else: it’s about assimilating knowledge and skills –and that requires more than just attending a class.

Research such as the National Survey of Student EngagementNational Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in the US, proves the importance of student engagement during their studies. This concept could be defined as the state in which students find themselves whilst learning, be it emotional or intellectual. Their engagement can also be measured through the effort made during the learning process.

Wondering how to engage students while teaching? Continue reading to discover how Wooclap helps you measure and improve student engagement in class!

What is student engagement?

Definition

The stakes of student engagement

Classroom engagement: How to measure it?

Top tips to help you boost your students’ engagement

Create the appropriate environment

Encourage cooperation and roleplay in learning

A variety of classroom activities to boost engagement in alternative ways

Get the right tools to boost interactive sessions

What is student engagement?

Definition

Student engagement (or classroom engagement) is measured by their activity and real actions: are they active? Do they accomplish the tasks required? Are they emotionally invested in their studies?

According to J.P. Connell engagement triggers action on behalf of the student, as well as efforts, perseverance when facing learning activities, and an emotional state.

All researchers agree that engagement involves intellectual, emotional and behavioral responses.

The stakes of student engagement

Researchers also agree on the stakes of student engagement throughout the learning process. As a matter of fact, being successful at school and university requires engagement and active learning: a highly invested student will stay focused in class and, in time, will assimilate and remember concepts better.

What’s more, active engagement allows students to bypass certain obstacles such as social determinism. In his thesis, Emmanuel Bernet (University of Montreal) affirms:

“It seems that a social context that favors engagement may minimize the negative effects of disadvantage (...) In Fact, Fredericks, Blumenfeld & Paris (2004) say good learning engagement could protect students from dropping out and help them suffer less social maladjustment”.

Creating a context that promotes student engagement is also a key element to high school students’ success.

Classroom engagement: How to measure it?

On the one hand, student engagement has become a higher challenge now that distractions –and loss of focus– have become commonplace (social media, information overload, excessive media and screen time, etc.). And on the other hand, how can it be measured by teachers?

The University of Colorado affirms that student engagement isn’t limited to their presence in class or their answers to the teacher’s questions. In order to measure it, it is important to note there are three types of engagement, i.e. intellectual, emotional and behavioral:

• Intellectual: students are curious, they reflect on the subject and make efforts to learn and remember knowledge;
• Behavioral: students ask questions, attend class and are focused;
• Emotional: students worry about learning, are enthusiastic and motivated by what they do.

Top tips to help you boost your students’ engagement

Are you looking for student engagement strategies? We get you, engaging students in learning is not easy… Start by identifying which obstacles you need to work on: do your students not participate enough/speak up enough? Do students not attend your classes? Are your students reluctant to do the exercises you give them?

Once you identify these points, you’ll be able to find the most relevant strategy to boost student engagement (with you and among themselves). Wooclap can definitely help you with that!

Create the appropriate environment

In order to promote emotional student engagement, a pleasant classroom environment is essential. Show yourself as an ally to your students, to create a safe space for them from the beginning of the year.

Letting them speak up and playing down their mistakes is also key to making your students take up space and participate. Stanford recommends acknowledging your students’ fear of failure to help them overcome it. You could try an icebreaker activity at the beginning of the year to let them talk about it!

Encourage cooperation and roleplay in learning

Peer-to-peer interaction allows creating a positive learning community that fosters student engagement. They no longer see the teacher as the sole master of knowledge, and engage better with their peers.

Try using classroom engagement activities, in pairs or in groups: each student can play a role that will require their intellectual engagement. The “Think-Pair-Share” model is a good example of this (the student first thinks individually, followed by discussion in pairs, and then the whole class shares their thoughts).

A variety of classroom activities to boost engagement in alternative ways

Since engagement can be cognitive, emotional or behavioral, classroom engagement can be seen in different ways. In order to include all your students, turn to a variety of activities and teaching styles to engage everyone, whatever their personality.

While brainstorming sessions and debates will require behavioral engagement, the “Exit Ticket” exercise will work best for emotional engagement.

At the end of your lesson, ask students to answer three questions and leave their answers on a paper as they leave:

• What? (What did we study today?)
• So what? (Why is it important?)
• What next? (What will you do with this new information?)

Get the right tools to boost interactive sessions

Teamwork, work in pairs, polls and brainstorming: all these activities are essential to foster student engagement, and there are tools to do so! These digital tools easily help us foster classroom engagement and interaction.

Thanks to Wooclap’s interactive presentation tool, create group brainstorming resources, an interactive multiple-choice test or a poll in just a few clicks! Your students will answer using their computer or smartphone, in real time or once they get home, and you can show their answers and discuss them in class. A simple yet efficient way to add interactivity and creativity to your classroom!