Embedding research on student engagement in learning: Lessons from the first Welsh Collaborative Enhancement Project

In November 2021, the first Welsh QAA Collaborative Enhancement Project led by Bangor University in collaboration with Wales’ largest HE in FE providers (GLlM). This study explored several aspects of student engagement that represented institutional priorities for the University, GllM and other members of the Wales Quality Network.
The project comprised of three strands:
• profiling the engagement of students using data
• review of well-designed interventions.
• disciple-based focus group interviews with students from both institutions
This presentation will describe key findings from the interviews, namely that:
• the strongest motivator for engagement in learning was contact with other students, particularly when students chose to create informal groups;
• contact with other students enabled students to commit to their learning;
• peer support (for Bangor students) and peer and staff support (GLlM students) was particularly important in addressing uncertainty in exam revision and in promoting retention and progression
We will relate the findings to recent high-quality studies and interventions.
The presentation will close by outlining how these findings were used to inform University strategy and investment in terms of funding and expanding social learning spaces, ongoing research on student belonging and the design of a whole-University assessment review.