ABSTRACT
The term ‘student engagement’ (and disengagement) in higher education was conceptualised in the 1980s as a way to understand and reduce student boredom, alienation, and dropping out (Finn and Zimmer, 2012 ). It has also been described to represent both the time and energy students invest in educationally purposeful activities and the effort institutions devote to using effective educational practices (Kuh and Hu, 2001 ). However, in the past 15 years ‘student engagement’ has become a term used to refer to practices, opportunities and extra-curricular activities, which students become involved in to improve the student educational experience (NUS, 2012 ; Healey, Flint, and Harrington, 2014 ). This development of practice has been heavily influenced by theory and practice around working with ‘students as partners’ and student engagement in regards to co-creating curricula, enhancing learning and the wider student experience (Neary and Winn, 2009 ; Wait and Bols, 2015 , Dunne, 2016 ). Notably, the term student engagement has already had impact through its adoption in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE, 2019 ). However this chapter gives an overview and focuses on practice where students have been active in student engagement educational development practices, projects or activities additionally or alongside the curriculum to contribute to HE educational development. This chapter will introduce many of the key areas of practice of student engagement in educational developments and will offer considerations for HE professionals embarking on new enhancements, research projects and initiatives.
