Enhancing Student Engagement at UIUC: Strategies and Initiatives

Student engagement is a critical factor in academic success, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) is actively fostering a learning environment where students are emotionally, behaviorally, and cognitively invested in their education. Engagement involves students connecting to ideas and developing a deeper understanding through both passive and active involvement. Faculty play a crucial role in creating opportunities for students to process and analyze ideas, discuss and apply concepts, and commit to their learning.

The Importance of Student Engagement

Engaged students consistently demonstrate superior academic outcomes. Evidence shows that active learning, a cornerstone of engagement, results in improved academic performance, higher student satisfaction, and increased course completion rates. Active involvement in the learning process, coupled with meaningful interactions with peers and faculty, are key factors that determine student persistence and success in college.

Strategies to Enhance Student Engagement

An integrated approach is needed to create the best conditions for engaged student learning. Some interconnected strategies are: Active Learning, Collaborative Learning, Feedback and Reflection, Digital Learning, and Game-Based Learning.

Active Learning

Active learning is a cornerstone of student engagement, leading to improved academic performance, higher satisfaction, and increased course completion rates. Active involvement and meaningful interactions with peers and faculty are key to student persistence and success.

Collaborative Learning

Feedback and Reflection

Digital Learning

Game-Based Learning

Flipped Learning and Engagement

The flipped classroom is an instructional approach that enhances engagement by flipping lectures (typically delivered in class) and homework (typically done at home). Recorded lectures or other materials are moved online for students to view before coming to class, and in-class time is used for practical learning activities like homework, discussion, problem-solving, and group projects. The flipped classroom model enhances student engagement by giving students more meaningful interaction during class with instructors and peers. By moving even some lecture content outside of class, faculty can use valuable in-class time for students to discuss, apply, and build their understanding through hands-on activities and real-time feedback from the instructor.

Initiatives at UIUC to Promote Engagement

UIUC is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and respectful learning environment through various initiatives.

Engaged Unit Program (EUP)

The Office of the Chancellor - Public Engagement established an Engaged Unit Program (EUP). The first cohort of awardees includes the Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the College of Education, the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, the College of Media, the School of Information Sciences, and the University Library.

Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CIMED)

Through the Engaged Unit Program (EUP), Carle Illinois College of Medicine (CIMED) will expand upon its experiential service-learning (ESL) opportunities available to medical students. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education requires ESLs; thus, by institutionalizing public engagement, CIMED will further fulfill critical accreditation criteria. CIMED will collaborate with Avicenna Community Health Clinic (ACHC) and Illinois Extension to create new ESLs. Their diverse team will develop and execute the Maternal Health Empowerment Program (MHEP) for pregnant and newly postpartum patients during the first 1000 days of life. MHEP will allow students to apply classroom knowledge with patients of diverse cultural backgrounds and complement several curricular requirements by providing opportunities to learn how to reduce harmful health disparities. Illinois Extension translates evidence-based knowledge from the university into practical programs and offers multiple modalities of valuable service-learning engagement for students, including developing health educational materials and delivering workshops to improve lay-term communication skills.

College of Education

Building on a decades-long legacy, the College of Education is a national leader in education-based public engagement in teaching and research. This work would be strengthened by a coordinated, long-term strategy to address timely issues, such as the intersection of social justice and education. The college proposes to develop a collegewide strategic action plan for public engagement that centers community partners in the process, basing their work on the principles of the research-practice partnerships model. Therefore, the college’s leadership will collaborate closely with twelve community partners to host invited feedback sessions with the broader community. The strategic work proposed will be supported by rotating members of the college’s recently established Public Engagement Faculty Fellows program.

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences (LAS)

Based on a recent survey of public-facing projects, the College of LAS is home to a great many community-based projects, and there is a tremendous breadth and depth of interest in this domain. Currently, however, there is no central office or clearing house for tracking projects that are ongoing, for sharing information or resources, or for organizing and promoting collaborative synergy. Despite the interest on the part of faculty and students in public engagement, some forego important and potentially transformative projects due to lack of knowledge regarding where to start, how to reach out, and to whom to reach out. For those that do initiate and carry out projects, each individual or group is essentially starting from scratch in their community outreach efforts.

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College of Media

The College of Media seeks to institutionalize public engagement by building capacity to develop long-term and mutually beneficial partnerships for initiatives that will bolster media literacy outreach, curricula and instruction, and research. The college has had success in initial public engagement efforts, but wants to do more to build and sustain lasting partnerships to address media-specific community needs and interests, especially in a media environment that too often perpetuates barriers to full participation by marginalized communities. The college’s goals are to foster greater understanding of the design, execution and evaluation of publicly engaged research; to develop a collegewide infrastructure for continuing education and support for public engagement initiatives and collaborations; and to improve knowledge of best practices in public engagement.

School of Information Sciences (iSchool)

The School of Information Sciences (iSchool) has been at the intersection of inquiry and engagement since its founding as a university unit nearly 130 years ago. While the iSchool has a strong history of publicly engaged research and teaching, successes have depended on the commitment of individual faculty and that commitment often wanes when those faculty transition to new grants or research frames and spaces. The iSchool finds itself at a critical juncture, being in a period of rapid and significant growth of faculty, degree programs, and enrolled students. A unitwide action plan will support the iSchool’s agenda to “…engage with social issues through research and education, contributing to the public good and future scholarship.” The 18-month project will develop a specific framework and plan to support a more tightly coordinated and sustained engagement effort using identified best practices which can be applied specifically within the disciplines of the information sciences across changes in faculty foci and grant funding. Such conceptual clarity will better highlight the value of engaged scholarship to enhance teaching and research.

University Library

To address these goals, a Library-led team will collaborate with campus partners and the Rantoul Township High School to design a summer bridge program to introduce the University Library and existing university programs for academic support and career planning. The program will also help students develop and strengthen lifelong success, academic readiness, and critical thinking skills. The program will be implemented and the evaluation of impact will conclude.

I-Engage Program

The I-Engage program takes new faculty from different academic units at the university on a day-long traveling seminar to learn about Champaign-Urbana. I-Engage is for faculty members who are new to our campus with a goal of facilitating opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of the infrastructures and drivers of the local economy including agriculture, government, education, healthcare, social services, the arts, and more. With a better understanding of the aspirations and needs of the community, new faculty members can engage with local partners through research, creative activities, teaching, service, and public engagement. Each academic college and school can nominate two early-career faculty members to participate in the program.

AREES program

The goal of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign AREES is to increase the number of underrepresented students pursuing and obtaining doctoral degrees leading to successful careers in academia and beyond.

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Creating an Inclusive and Engaging Environment

UIUC is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and respectful learning environment. As such, all Registered Student Organizations (RSOs) must adhere to the university’s nondiscrimination standards as a condition of official recognition and access to campus benefits. Each RSO must agree that: “Membership and participation in the organization must be open to all currently enrolled University of Illinois students, without regard to actual or perceived race, color, religion,sex, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, or any other status protected by applicable law or university policy.” All RSOs must allow any student enrolled at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign to become a member of the organization and seek and hold leadership positions within the organization unless an exemption is granted. RSOs with a religious mission may establish belief-based criteria for selecting their leadership, provided that: The organization identifies itself as a religious or faith-based group in its constitution and/or registration materials; and Leadership restrictions are explicitly based on religious beliefs and apply only to leadership roles, not general membership; and The group does not discriminate based on protected classes unrelated to its religious tenets (e.g., race, national origin). RSOs that comply with this policy are eligible to access SORF funding, event space reservations, advertising and promotional platforms, and other privileges extended to recognized organizations.

Best Practices for Instruction

The most effective teachers vary their styles depending on the nature of the subject matter, the phase of the course, and other factors. By so doing, they encourage and inspire students to do their best at all times throughout the semester. It is helpful to think of teaching styles according to the three Ds: Directing, Discussing, and Delegating.

Creating a Climate of Trust

Central to making students feel they are partners in a community of learners is the creation of a climate of trust, so that students feel safe in offering their own ideas. Using plural pronouns creates a dialogue that has less of an adversarial tone and underscores the idea of students and teachers as partners in inquiry. Learning student names as quickly as possible is essential for developing trust. Giving students a rationale for the value of an interactive classroom assures them that interaction is not designed to embarrass them, but rather to facilitate learning and make the subject matter more interesting. This lets students know they have some control over class proceedings and that their insights and contributions will be validated in our mutual quest for understanding.

Asking Effective Questions

Asking questions that don’t put a student’s self-confidence and reputation at risk is important. Instead of asking questions where there is only one right answer, instructors can come up with nonthreatening questions.

The Importance of Early Feedback

Student feedback needn't be collected only through ICES. Collecting feedback about how your class is doing is a valuable part of any semester, and early feedback is particularly important.

Making the Last Day Count

Adequate closure creates a sense of satisfaction for all involved and can reinforce the meaningful connections we’ve made with our students - connections that sometimes get lost or strained with end-of-semester stress.

Addressing Challenges to Student Engagement

One of the greatest obstacles to learning is student apathy. To help overcome this barrier, a brief, introductory discussion designed to articulate why the material is significant can be helpful. Not just because it may be on an exam, but rather because it will have real life, lasting consequences.

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