2 Dr. Dipak K. Chavan

IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K.
CHAVHAN (185-191)
STUDENTS ENGAGEMENT: WAY FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

Dipak K. Chavan, Ph.D
Associate Professor, Tilak College of Education, Pune
Abstract
This conceptual paper discusses the concept of Students engagement in teaching learning
process. It is the cognitive investment, active participation and emotional commitment to the
learning of the students. It also focus on the students engagement approach, its objectives, the
process of Students engagement, its importance and various ways to promote students
engagement in teaching and learning process which includes enhancement of students selfbelief, enable students to work autonomously, recognize that teaching and teachers are central
to engagement, use of Active learning strategies, create challenging and enriching educational
experiences, accept students from diverse backgrounds, invest in a variety of support services,
adapt to changing student expectations, enable students to become active citizens and enable
students to develop their social and cultural capital.
Key words: Students Engagement, Effective Teaching and Learning
Introduction
When we observe the classrooms, we see that some students are not listening to the
teacher, few students are bending down in their benches and several students are not
participating in the discussion in such classrooms there is lack of students engagement. Many
teachers who constantly see disengaged students put the blame on the student and say that they
could be better teachers and have better results if they had the opportunity to work with a better
group of students. But classrooms with high levels of student engagement are not simply a result
of student quality. There are various elements that contribute to high levels of student
SEPT-OCT, 2015, VOL-I, ISSUE-III
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IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K. CHAVHAN (185-191)
engagement. These elements are a combination of the background of students, the influence and
expectations of family and peers, schoolwide and classroom practices which will be helpful for
effective teaching and learning.
Objectives:
1.
To understand the concept of Students engagement.
2.
To be acquainted with the process of Students Engagement.
3.
To know the importance of Students engagement.
4.
To realize the ways to promote students engagement in teaching and learning process
Concept of Students engagement

Students engagement in teaching learning process is a popular phrase in the field of education. It
refers to students active participation in the academic environment resulting in an enhanced
learning experience. This may be through involvement with their individual studies, and the
structures and processes that strengthen teaching and learning.
Student engagement can be defined as follows:
Students engagement is simply encouraging the students to engage them in their class
work.
Engagement is students involvement with activities and conditions likely to generate
high-quality learning.
The cognitive investment, active participation and emotional commitment to the learning
of the students is known as Students engagement.
The students engagement approach provides the foundation for developing and
strengthening student engagement and the overall learning process. This foundation is built
through specific principles, habits, skills, and strategies. All members of the school community
can join forces to develop schoolwide practices that cultivate student engagement beliefs, values,
feelings, motivation, behavioral habits, and skills that are at the core of high levels of student
engagement.
The three domains of student engagement approach are as follows:
1.
Cognitive domain: It consists of beliefs and values.
2.
Emotional domain: This includes motivation and feelings.
3.
Behavioral domain: It consists of habits and skills.
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In the students engagement approach, teachers and parents work systematically across
all three domains to ensure an integrated approach to cultivate and support student engagement at
the highest level. The core habits of student achievement and other skill sets, such as
organizational skills and self-discipline, also will be developed in the student through this
approach.
The students engagement approach includes the following six objectives.
1.
Cultivate one-on-one relationships: The one-on-one relationship between student and
teacher is the critical element that can lead to increased student motivation and higher levels of
engagement in academics and school life.
2.
Learn new skills and habits: Teachers can learn new skills and habits that help them to
develop, polish, and enhance their already natural inclination to motivate and engage students.
3.
Incorporate systematic strategies: Teachers can learn systematic strategies that
facilitate student engagement. Students can develop behavioral skills and habits that lead to
increased academic achievement and greater involvement with school life.
4.
Take responsibility for student engagement practices: It is primarily the teachers
responsibility to engage the students, as opposed to the teacher expecting students to come to
class naturally and automatically engaged.
5.
Promote a schoolwide culture of engagement: The best way to promote high levels of
student engagement is to develop and maintain a schoolwide initiative that is dedicated to

creating a culture of student engagement, involving students in school activities, and providing a
rigorous and relevant education program for all students.
6.
Professional development: Professional development is an important part of increasing
student engagement. Staff development, combined with staff ownership and recognition, is
critical to developing and maintaining a culture of effective student engagement
1.
The process of Students Engagement
Student engagement is a broad concept, comprising a number of important features. These

features demonstrate the practical ways in which student engagement in learning and teaching.
1.
Initiation of Students Engagement practices
Principal and teachers should decide the students engagement policy in the school to initiate
Students engagement as school wide and classroom practice.
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2.
Orientation of Staff
Staff is well-informed about student engagement in learning and teaching and is appropriately
trained in specific roles which support engagement activities.
3.
Publicity of opportunities to engage
The opportunities to engage are widely publicised, accessible and flexible, to meet the needs of
all students and staff. Expectations on students and staff are made clear.
4.
Recognize and address barriers
There is a commitment to recognise and address barriers to engagement that exist, so that all
students can have an equal voice and opportunity to contribute.
5.
Engage the students in decision-making
Students are engaged in decision-making processes and are equipped with sufficient background
knowledge to make effective contributions. Students are encouraged to initiate conversations,
make suggestions and ask why? The learning and teaching environment is receptive to
contributions made by students.
6.
Regular feedback
Regular feedback allows students to review their own academic performance and progress.
Through dialogue with staff, students are enabled to set their own learning goals appropriate to
their own learning and development needs.
7.
Encourage the students to undertake formal roles
Students are encouraged to undertake formal roles and are inducted, trained and supported to
fulfill these roles. Opportunities also exist for students to contribute more informally at a
departmental, Faculty and institutional level, and through the Students Union.
8.
Independent Learning
Students are encouraged and enabled to learn independently both within and outside their core
programme of study.
9.
Recognition of students
Student engagement in learning and teaching is recognised and rewarded appropriately.

10.
Regular monitoring
The effectiveness and impact of student engagement in learning and teaching are regularly
monitored, reviewed and disseminated.
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11.
Engagement opportunities
The engagement opportunities are recognised as a means to enhance the development of

employability, professionalism and active citizenship in a global context. Students are able to
identify and articulate the skills they gain from these opportunities.
2.
Importance of Students engagement:
Engagement of Students in teaching learning process is very important for effective teaching and
learning. This engagement is useful as follows1.
Student engagement in learning and teaching recognizes the different goals, approaches
and motivations of each individual student as well as the collective student voice.
2.
Active engagement of our students is the main channel through which we are able to get
feedback from our students, helping us to develop and improve all aspects of learning.
3.
Partnership and collaboration between our students and staff creates mutually beneficial
learning communities.
4.
Student engagement in learning and teaching strengthens deep, transformational learning.
5.
Active participation encourages our students to take more responsibility for, and have
ownership of, their learning, thus enhancing their academic experience.

6.
Student engagement in learning and teaching enables the attainment of skills, thus
enhancing the employability of the students.

3.
Ways to promote students engagement in teaching and learning process:
Student engagement for effective teaching and learning can be promoted in the following ways:
1. Enhance students self-belief:
Students engage when they act as their own learning agents working to achieve goals meaningful
to them. This means that what students believe about themselves as learners is very important.
They must believe they can learn, including that they can overcome and learn from failure.
Giving students some control over learning processes helps develop this confidence and
commitment to learning.
2. Enable students to work autonomously:
When institutions provide opportunities for students to learn both autonomously and with others,
and to develop their sense of competence, students are more likely to be motivated, to engage
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and succeed. Not unrelated to the first recommendation, the focus here is on cultivating intrinsic
motivation, which fosters the self-determination that leads to engagement.
3. Recognize that teaching and teachers are central to engagement:
Teaching and teachers are at the heart of engagement. If the teacher is perceived to be
approachable, well prepared, and sensitive to student needs, students are committed to work
harder, get more out of the session, and are more willing to express their opinion.
4. Use of Active learning strategies:
Create learning that is active, collaborative, and fosters learning relationships. Active learning in
groups, peer relationships, and social skills are important in engaging learners.
4.
Create challenging and enriching educational experiences:
Create educational experiences for students that are challenging and enriching and that extend
their academic abilities. Easy learning activities and assignments are not as effective at engaging
students as activities and assignments that challenge them. When students are reflecting,
questioning, conjecturing, evaluating, and making connections between ideas, they are engaged.
Teachers need to create rich educational experiences that challenge students ideas and stretch
them as far as they can go.
5.
Accept students from diverse backgrounds:
Ensure that institutional cultures are welcoming to students from diverse backgrounds. To
become engaged, students must feel they are accepted and affirmed. They must feel they belong
at an institution.
6.
Invest in a variety of support services:
Sometimes it seems as though students dont take advantage of support services like learning and
advising centers, but a wide variety of research findings confirms the importance of these
support services. They are perceived as part of the institutional culture, and students engage
when that culture values and supports their efforts to learn.
7.
Adapt to changing student expectations:
An institution should never be satisfied with how it is promoting student engagement. As

students change and new research evidence emerges, institutional practices should be adjusted.
Engagement cannot just be promoted, it must also be maintained.
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8.
Enable students to become active citizens:
What is needed is a democratic-critical conception of engagement that goes beyond strategies,

techniques, behaviours, conception in which engagement is participatory, dialogic and leads not
only to academic achievement but to success as an active citizen.
9.
Enable students to develop their social and cultural capital:
This kind of capital derives from a sense of belonging, from active relationships with others, and
from knowing how things work around the institution. It is especially essential for minority
students who need to be successful not only in the classroom but beyond it as well.
REFERENCES
Barrett, H.C. (2005). White Paper: Researching Electronic Portfolios and Learner Engagement.
Retrieved September 2010 from http://www.taskstream.com/reflect/whitepaper.pdf
Jones Richard (2008), White paper: Strengthening Student Engagement International Center for
Leadership in Education November 2008
Taylor, L. & Parsons, J. (2011). Improving Student Engagement. , Current Issues in
Education14(1). Retrieved from http://cie.asu.edu/
Zepke, N., and Leach, L. (2010). Improving student engagement: Ten proposals for action,
Active Learning in Higher Education, 11 (3)
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IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K.

STUDENTS ENGAGEMENT: WAY FOR EFFECTIVE TEACHING AND LEARNING

IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K. CHAVHAN (185-191)

To understand the concept of Students engagement.

To be acquainted with the process of Students Engagement.

To know the importance of Students engagement.

Concept of Students engagement

Cognitive domain: It consists of beliefs and values.

Emotional domain: This includes motivation and feelings.

Behavioral domain: It consists of habits and skills.

SEPT-OCT, 2015, VOL-I, ISSUE-III

IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K. CHAVHAN (185-191)

Cultivate one-on-one relationships: The one-on-one relationship between student and

Incorporate systematic strategies: Teachers can learn systematic strategies that

Take responsibility for student engagement practices: It is primarily the teachers

student engagement is to develop and maintain a schoolwide initiative that is dedicated to

Professional development: Professional development is an important part of increasing

The process of Students Engagement

Student engagement is a broad concept, comprising a number of important features. These

Initiation of Students Engagement practices

IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K. CHAVHAN (185-191)

Publicity of opportunities to engage

Recognize and address barriers

Engage the students in decision-making

Encourage the students to undertake formal roles

Student engagement in learning and teaching is recognised and rewarded appropriately.

IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K. CHAVHAN (185-191)

The engagement opportunities are recognised as a means to enhance the development of

Importance of Students engagement:

Student engagement in learning and teaching strengthens deep, transformational learning.

ownership of, their learning, thus enhancing their academic experience.

enhancing the employability of the students.

Ways to promote students engagement in teaching and learning process:

SEPT-OCT, 2015, VOL-I, ISSUE-III

IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K. CHAVHAN (185-191)

Create challenging and enriching educational experiences:

Accept students from diverse backgrounds:

Invest in a variety of support services:

Adapt to changing student expectations:

An institution should never be satisfied with how it is promoting student engagement. As

SEPT-OCT, 2015, VOL-I, ISSUE-III

IJERS/ BIMONTHLY/ DR. DIPAK K. CHAVHAN (185-191)

Enable students to become active citizens:

What is needed is a democratic-critical conception of engagement that goes beyond strategies,

Enable students to develop their social and cultural capital:

SEPT-OCT, 2015, VOL-I, ISSUE-III

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