Student Engagement in Higher Education
Summary
Student engagement in higher education is a multifaceted construct encompassing behavioural, affective and cognitive dimensions of participation in learning. Behavioural engagement refers to attendance, task completion and active involvement in academic activities; affective engagement captures students’ emotional investment, interest and sense of belonging; cognitive engagement involves the use of self-regulated learning strategies and deep processing of content. Robust engagement is linked to improved retention, academic achievement, wellbeing and lifelong learning skills. Contemporary challenges include adapting to online and blended environments, addressing engagement fatigue and ensuring equitable access across diverse student populations. Research has progressed from static measures to dynamic, longitudinal models that recognise how engagement profiles evolve over time and across contexts. Practical applications span pedagogical design—such as active-learning approaches, peer collaboration and formative assessment—to institutional policies promoting holistic support structures. A global perspective highlights the need for contextually responsive strategies that account for cultural, disciplinary and technological variations.
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Student Engagement in Higher Education publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in student engagement in higher education across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Student engagement: A multidimensional construct encompassing behavioural, affective and cognitive participation in learning activities.
Behavioural engagement: Observable actions such as attendance, participation and task completion.
Affective engagement: Emotional responses to learning including interest, enjoyment and belonging.
Cognitive engagement: Investment in learning involving self-regulation, deep processing and strategic thinking.
Dispersed assessment: An assessment strategy that spreads multiple credit-bearing tasks across a course to maintain continuous engagement.
References
- Student engagement and its development in university education: A three-year follow-up study. Learning and Individual Differences (2024).
- Dispersed assessment: A novel approach to enhancing student engagement during and beyond Covid-19. The International Journal of Management Education (2023).
- Defining and exploring online engagement fatigue in a university context. Computers and Education Open (2023).
- Engaging students in higher education with educational technology. Education and Information Technologies (2024).
- Dynamic Interaction between Student Learning Behaviour and Learning Environment: Meta-Analysis of Student Engagement and Its Influencing Factors. Behavioral Sciences (2023).
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