Higher education student engagement under the microscope

22 November 2011: Higher education experts and stakeholders have gathered in Melbourne this week to discuss challenges around student engagement and share strategic insights to further improve the quality of Australian higher education.

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is presenting the two-day conference on student engagement today and tomorrow. ACER Higher Education Research Director, Associate Professor Hamish Coates, said recent developments such as the advent of TEQSA have brought the intersection teaching, learning and student engagement to the fore.

“Ambitious national participation targets and the resulting need for a significant increase in student retention mean that student engagement is more vital than ever,” he added.

Associate Professor Coates will today deliver a presentation on the topic of international and national perspectives on measuring student engagement and outcomes.

Other speakers and their topics include:

• Professor Ross Milbourne, University of Technology, Sydney, ‘The economics of students engagement’
• Professor Richard James, Centre for the Study of Higher Education at The University of Melbourne, ‘How might student engagement relate to national teaching & learning standards?’
• Professor Gill Palmer, RMIT, ‘Student engagement & international students’
• Professor Steven Larkin, Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council, ‘Successfully engaging Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander students & supporting them through to completion’

Representatives from the National Union of Students, the Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations, the Australian Federation of International Students and the Council of International Students Australia will participate in a student panel discussion to provide insight into what students believe are the key elements of a positive student experience of higher education.

The conference, on the theme Measuring & Improving Student Engagement & Experience: Increasing the quality of teaching & learning to encourage retention in higher education, takes place at the Novotel on Collins, Melbourne, today and tomorrow.

Further information, including the full conference program and list of speakers, is available from http://www.improvingstudentengagement.com/

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Media enquiries: Megan Robinson, Corporate Communications
Mobile: 0419 340 058 Email: communications@acer.edu.au