Advancing Student Engagement in Higher Education

Tom Lowe is a Senior Lecturer in Higher Education at the University of Portsmouth (UK) and the Chair of Researching, Advancing and Inspiring Student Engagement (RAISE).

'This book disrupts simplistic ideas about student engagement, turning over many a neoliberal stone to reveal questions of power at the heart of students’ relationship to the University. It does exactly what it claims: advances student engagement and invites the reader to take a critical, reflective, and challenging stance about a concept that has become a buzzword. I recommend it highly.'Prof Tansy Jessop NTF, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education, University of Bristol (UK).'Anyone who has attempted to innovate their practice with students, run a student feedback workshop, or engage students as partners will know that there are numerous challenges. This edited collection draws together practitioners from across the field who discuss these challenges up-front, offering innovative recommendations and flexible practice to ensure students are truly included. There are important questions to be continuously addressed in our universities relating to inclusivity and equality opportunities to engage, and this book is a great starting point for colleagues looking to engage students within their area of the modern university.'Prof Claire Hamshire NTF, Vice President (Europe), International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning & Head of International. Manchester Metropolitan University (UK).'The book frames students clearly as invested members of the university community, and emphasises the importance of knowing about and embedding student engagement in all aspects of university life and work. Threaded through the book is the consistent message that each student is a unique learner who needs, in fact deserves, individual attention, and the task of achieving this is explored and explained in different contexts.'Dr Rachel Forsyth PFHEA, Editor in Chief of the Student Engagement in Higher Education Journal & Project Leader, Lund University (Sweden).'This book provides a much-needed, in-depth exploration of the context of student engagement in higher education today, and makes a powerful case for why we should continuously be reflecting on our current practices. It is both a detailed discussion of the current academic debates at play, while remaining an accessible resource for anyone interested in ensuring the success of student engagement.'Livia Scott, Students’ Union Community and Projects Officer, Wonkhe.'This is an excellent volume, timely and comprehensive, which explores the variety of contexts for student engagement in today’s HE landscape. Building on existing works, it continues to make the case for student engagement as a crucial focus for HE institutions, but the collection also problematises student engagement, challenging assumptions and investigating barriers. This critical dimension is a key strength of the collection. The recommendations for improving practice which emerge from its chapters are invaluable.'Prof Stephen McVeigh, Chair of Researching, Advancing and Inspiring Student Engagement (RAISE) (2019-22) & Associate Dean – Education, Swansea University (UK).

• 1. Advancing student engagement in higher education: the need for reflection, critique and challenge 2. Researching and evaluating student engagement: A methodological critique of data gathering approaches 3. Challenges and tensions for Student Academic Engagement practices in contemporary UK Higher Education 4. There is not one student experience: Our learner journeys as individuals 5. Equality and diversity in our student engagement practice – Radical possibilities to reaching racial and religious equity in Higher Education 6. Authentic leadership for student engagement. 7. Students as consumers: A barrier for student engagement? 8. Accessibility to Student Engagement Opportunities: A Focus on ‘Hard to Reach’ Universities 9. How to engage students in your educational developments – a student leader’s view 10. Student evaluation of courses – cocreation of meaning through conversations: Insights from the student perspective 11. The problem with student engagement during Covid-19 12. Control, freedom and structure in student-staff partnerships 13. To what extent can we really make students partners in neoliberal universities? 14. Critical Challenges to Support Generation Z Learners 15. Student-Instructor Partnerships for Curricular Justice 16. Embracing student agentic engagement and enacting equity in higher education through co-creating learning and teaching 17. Defining, Delivering and Evaluating Student Engagement in a Professional Service in Higher Education: A Case Study of a Student Engagement Team in an Academic Library 18. University Estates: From Spaces to Places of Student Engagement 19. Learning Analytics in Higher Education: The ethics, the future, the students 20. Placing sport at the heart of the university community: a critical reflection on sports club membership and what it means for student engagement from a Bourdieusian perspective 21. Towards inclusive student partnership: challenges and opportunities for student engagement in the Australian context 22. Recognising the hidden impact of extra-curricular activity on student engagement and success 23. Widening the Aperture on College Students’ Sense of Belonging: A Critical Ecological Perspective 24: Valhalla and Nirvana: views of Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation in further and higher education 25. So what and what next? Concluding thoughts on advancing student engagement