International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning
Volume 2, Number 1, January 2008

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Invited Essays

Excerpt

Engaging our Students in the Learning Process: Some Points for Consideration

Student Engagement – What Does It Mean?

Over the past few years there has been considerable emphasis on the concept of ‘student engagement’. This at first sight is somewhat peculiar given that the mission of universities is surely to engage students in learning through providing the conditions and the environment in which learning will flourish! However, there are many tensions inherent in the world of academia today. The core business of universities is, or should be, creating the best learning environment for our students. In a context of mass higher education, increasing diversity of the student population, globalization and the new marketing of education, and increased competition between universities exacerbated by ‘league tables’, it is problematic to define ‘the best learning environment’ for engaging students in the learning process.

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Bio

Lorraine Stefani
University of Auckland
Auckland, New Zealand
lorraine.stefani@auckland.ac.nz

I am Director and Professor of Academic Development at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. I am a member of the NZ National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence (Ako Aotearoa) Inaugural Governing Board and was previously a member of the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education Inaugural Council (UK), (now the Higher Education Academy). I have been highly active in promoting the scholarship of teaching and learning at local, national and international levels over many years. At the University of Auckland I have driven forward many projects including the initiation of a mandatory introduction to teaching and learning programme for new academics and developing a postgraduate accredited programme in Academic Practice for early career academics. My recent research outputs include a book on the educational potential of e-Portfolios, a book on effective use of IT in thebiosciences,and many publications on Student Engagement and Assessment of Student Learning. Website: http://www.cad.auckland.ac.nz

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International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning is a publication of the Center for Excellence in Teaching at Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, Georgia, USA.