What keeps students engaged with their courses and their college?

Posted on by Richard Gordon

Bob Gonyea, Indiana UniversityBob Gonyea, Indiana University Bloomington, will be the keynote presenter at the 2014 UD Winter Faculty Institute on January 9. He joined us for a conversation about the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) and the implications of that survey’s results for faculty AND staff in dean’s offices, residence life, and other staff that support students attending a college or university.

In our radio conversation, Bob talked about the link between students’ classroom engagement and “persistence” (“retention” from the college’s point of view), how current students expect faculty to use technology to engage them with their learning, implications of NSSE data for support staff, good writing assignments, and other topics that should interest anyone teaching or working with college and university students. NSSE has shown that many best practices for student engagement have remained the same over time, while yielding insight into new practices that will further help schools support their students’ learning.

One of the many striking points Bob made was about writing across the curriculum: if faculty construct writing assignments to focus student learning rather than to assess what the students have learned, students are more engaged with their learning. He said that when we get students to “write to learn,” the process deepens students’ learning, sharpening their ability to see relationships between concepts, sharpening their analytical skills.

Listen to the interview

Bob Gonyea, Indiana University Bloomington
28:34
27.4 MB

About our guest

Dr. Robert Gonyea is associate director of the Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research. Bob coordinates research and reporting for the National Survey of Student Engagement. Since 1999, Bob has been an integral contributor to the development and success of the NSSE survey. He spent the early part of his career in student affairs administration where he gained insights about positive student development and effective campus environments. His Ed.D. is from Indiana University in higher education and student affairs, with a minor in educational inquiry.

Bob’s current research interests include the assessment of university quality, writing as a form of engagement in learning, and high-impact practices for undergraduate learners.

Learn more