The preliminary results of a survey of lecturer and student engagement at a South African university faculty of community and health sciences.

1. Talking past each other
a survey of student & lecturer engagement
Michael Rowe (Physiotherapy)
Rina Swart (Dietetics)

2. Background
●
SA graduation statistics demonstrate
shortcomings in equity & poor completion
(Grayson, 2014)
●
Student deficit models are inappropriate for
developing solutions (Jones, 1995)
●
Student engagement identified as an
important indicator of success (Tinto, 2014)
●
Interactions with staf are motivators for
students to engage (Strydom & Mentz, 2010)

3. Method
●
Aim: Describe perceptions of engagement of
factors that influence student success
●
Cross-sectional, descriptive design (survey)
●
South African Survey of Student Engagement
& Lecturer Survey of Student Engagement
●
Conducted Sep. 2014 among all CHS
undergraduate students and lecturers
●
Descriptive data analysis

4. Results: Academic challenge
Topic Lecturers
(important)
Students
(how often)
Ask questions / contribute
to discussion
100% 57%
Prepare 2+ drafts 69% 52%
Pre-lecture reading 95% 28%
Memorisation 30% 85%

5. Results: Student-Staf interaction
Topic Lecturers
(often)
Students
(never)
Discussed career plans 58% 55%
Discussed modules
outside class
75% 33%
Discussed academic
performance
88% 48%

6. Results: Educational experience
Topic Lecturers
(often)
Students
(rarely)
Use examples 100% 40%
Provide timely feedback 83% 56%

7. Results: Educational experience (2)
Topic Lecturers
(important)
Students
(rare)
Integrate social issues 95% 45%
Present diverse
perspectives
90% 46%
Present new points of
view
96% 20%
Discuss student
perspectives
93% 34%

8. Discussion
●
Students who feel valued are more likely to
engage with the institution (Klem & Connell, 2004)
●
Positive interactions between students and
staf beyond the curriculum are important (Tinto,
2014)
●
Engagement must be intentional (Tinto, 2014)
●
Lecturers must see themselves as more than
content experts (Bradbury & Miller, 2011)

9. Conclusion
●
Students and staf have diferent perceptions
of engagement around the factors that
influence student success
●
Students' perceptions are that staf do not
engage them
●
Staf members must do more to create
learning spaces where the responsibility for
learning is shared

10. Thank you