Student engagement in first year of an ICT degree: staff and student perceptions

This article reports on a study of student engagement in the first year of their undergraduate information and communication technology (ICT) degree at an Australian university. The study was conducted at Monash University in the four undergraduate ICT degrees of the Faculty of Information Technology. The study draws on data collected from staff and students using interviews and a start of semester survey. Three aspects of engagement broadly classified as behavioural, cognitive and affective are used as a framework to analyse the data. Results show that staff perceived students as demonstrating low levels of engagement in their university study. Students presented many reasons to explain the nature and extent of their engagement. Many of their reasons relate to studying in an educational landscape of changing lifestyles and work patterns and a strong reliance on technology to support their learning. This article re-conceptualises the undergraduate student learning experience in the current tertiary climate. Implications of the perceived lack of student engagement are discussed and recommendations are made for ways to increase the level of student engagement.