Students’ Perspectives on Engagement, Learning, and Pedagogy: Self-Evaluations of University Students in Spain

Paulo Padilla-Petry,Jennifer A Vadeboncoeur

doi:10.1177/2158244020924063

Paulo Padilla-Petry, Jennifer A Vadeboncoeur

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020924063

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Abstract

Student engagement in higher education has been studied from different theoretical perspectives and in different countries. Current issues include both concerns regarding students’ attitudes and ambivalence and, in addition, the definition of the concept of student engagement and how various pedagogical approaches may contribute to contrasting definitions. The present study thematically analyzed self-evaluations of 46 students attending two pedagogy courses of the University of Barcelona; both courses included lectures and discussions. Special attention was given to how participants described their engagement and related it to their learning, the teacher’s pedagogy, and the course content. Different forms of engagement emerged, both with the lecture and discussion sessions of the classes, that suggest some aspects of student engagement may (a) be invisible to the teacher and (b) follow an independent decision-making process that may favor passing over learning.

Highlights

Poor retention rates within the higher education (HE) sector are a concern for both HE institutions and governments in most countries
Student retention in HE has been associated with student engagement (Hu, 2010), a major topic of research related to learning, academic success, and different life outcomes, including mental well-being, lifelong learning, student resilience, and moral, ethical, and psychosocial development (Baron & Corbin, 2012)
Engagement was a process that emerged in the relation between student, pedagogy, and course content

Summary

Introduction

Poor retention rates within the higher education (HE) sector are a concern for both HE institutions and governments in most countries. Student retention in HE has been associated with student engagement (Hu, 2010), a major topic of research related to learning, academic success, and different life outcomes, including mental well-being, lifelong learning, student resilience, and moral, ethical, and psychosocial development (Baron & Corbin, 2012). This article addresses a gap in qualitative research on student engagement in HE in Spain through a qualitative analysis of the self-evaluations of 46 students from two different pedagogy courses at the University of Barcelona. The article describes the context of the research, provides a literature review of student engagement, including a general review and a focused discussion in relation to HE and critical perspectives on student engagement in HE, presents the methodology, presents and discusses the findings, with a reflection on the limitations, and offers conclusions and implications

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