Student engagement – what’s it all about?

Why do we want to engage with students?

June 2009 (length 3:35)

The following is a transcript of a film which can be viewed on this web page:
www.qaa.ac.uk/students/studentEngagement/films09.asp

Nik Heerens, sparqs
Student engagement in quality is important because students have a very unique view of teaching and learning. They are the only ones within the University who actually undergo the education and who know what it means to be a student.

Julie Hall, Roehampton University
Student engagement is absolutely crucial in quality assurance. We have to measure the quality of what we are doing and that absolutely impacts on the student experience. Historically we have not talked to students, and how strange it might seem that we have developed strategy, we have made changes to the way we operate at the university without being informed by student views. I think it absolutely key that we hear from students and we develop things in response to them.

Kim Macintyre, University of the West of Scotland
If we don’t engage with students then we’re really running blind. We don’t know what they’re thinking, what their wants. We really need to engage with them to get them on board so we’re designing systems that actually work for them, and that their curriculum actually works for them and they’re getting what they want out of it.

Kath Hodgson, University of Leeds
I think it’s not just important, it’s crucial, that we get students involved because it’s about getting a really clear understanding of the impact of quality assurance measures on students so that quality assurance just doesn’t become a bureaucratic exercise for itself, it’s actually got a purpose and a meaning and that’s about enhancing the student academic experience.

Alex Bols, National Union of Students
The key point in terms of students is they’re committing quite a long period of time, they are potentially paying towards the cost, but will also have a key interest in having a high quality education, and clearly as recipients of that education they will also have a view of how it can be improved.

Nik Heerens, sparqs
By involving students you can improve the quality of education. By using the feedback and the input of students, by using their ideas about how learning can be improved, the quality of their own learning and thus the quality of the university’s education can improve.

Louise Goldring, Centre for Excellence in Enquiry-Based Learning, University of Manchester
Students will take more responsibility for their learning, they’ll get more out of their learning and they’ll also be able to take that into their later lives as well.

Douglas Blackstock, The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
Students are a central part of what the higher education system is about. The student experience is important, and it's important to us in terms of quality assurance that students have a good experience, that their time at University is well spent; but not that they’re just on the receiving end of learning, but that they actively participate in their own learning and contribute to the development of their own institutions and of the university community.

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