Student Engagement Post-Secondary Education Kuh, Cruze, Shoup,

Student Engagement Post-Secondary Education

Kuh, Cruze, Shoup, Kinzie, Gonyea (2008) provided that a college or post-secondary education degree is crucial in attaining individual, communal and societal achievement or progress. A high school diploma has lesser weight compared to a college degree and a person with it is believed to have acquired relevant knowledge and growth that would be cognitively and economically beneficial to him. To the community and society in general, a large number of college graduates will possibly result to better family lives and the transfer of such pleasurable condition to the next generation.

However, Kuh et al., (2008) also reported that not all college entrants complete post-secondary education. In 1995 to 1996, only half or 51% of students who enrolled for a four-year course achieved their degree within 6 years at the institutions where they started. 7% completed their course within 6 years after attending two or more institutions. And only 46% of African-Americans and Latinos completed their course in 6 years.

The above data do not show promising results. It means that a very substantial number of college students do not get to achieve their initial academic goals. It also means that minority students are probably not encouraged to acquire college degrees.

This is saddening especially that the benefits of a college degree are already established; more so as it reflects to the society's future.

This essay will look closely on student engagement in post-secondary education. It will discuss what college student engagement is and how it can be looked at. It will scrutinize reports and information on the subject. It will also aim to come up with recommendations on how student engagement could be improved that will possibly result to societal betterment.

Kuh et al., (2008), explained that student engagement is the representation of both the time and energy the students use in engaging in educationally purposeful activities. It also includes the effort of educational institution to using effective educational practices.

Student engagement involves both the academic institution and the students. To achieve good college completion rates, education has to be accessible, relevant and enticing so that the students will persist in achieving their academic goals.

A Student Engagement Primer by Clayton Smith shared that Kuh's description of the "time and energy students invest in educationally purposeful activities" can best be explained, through Gerken and Volkwein, as the first year student's nature and quality of interaction with his peers and faculties in the academic institution.

This means that college freshmen need all the support that they can get to help adjust to the demands and rigors of college life.

On the other hand, Smith also shared that the effective educational practices employed by the school to promote student engagement actually involves the resources, curriculum, opportunities and support system being offered to the students to access and participate in especially during times of need.

The above indicators measure the success of student engagement and persistence in college. How then are they relevant? According to Kuh (2007),

"Students who talk about substantive matters with faculty and peers, are challenged to perform at high levels, and receive frequent feedback on their performance typically get better grades, are more satisfied with college, and are more likely to persist. While these and other educationally purposeful activities are positively linked to desired outcomes for all types of students, historically underserved students and those who are less well prepared tend to benefit even more (Cruce et al. 2006; Kuh et al. 2006)."

Pike and Kuh (2005), on the other hand, shared that based on the information gathered from a Documenting Effective Educational Practices Project (DEEP) of several well-performing Colleges and Universities, effective educational practices involve:

"…policies and practices that induced higher levels of student engagement and student success relative to other schools….these institutions were marked by an unshakeable focus on student learning emphasized in their missions and operating philosophies. They also adapted their physical campus properties and took advantage of the surrounding environment in ways that enriched students' learning opportunities."

The explanations on student engagement indicators reflect that the achievement of good college completion rates mean serious business. Students have to be taken care of starting from admission until the time when he is about to graduate. The academic environment has to be made very conducive for learning and psychosocial adaptation and adjustment.

As discussed on the first part of this essay, completion of post-secondary education by college entrants would later on translate to more satisfied people and possibly a continually improving society. It has to be looked into and addressed to ensure educational improvement and success.