Helping and Hindering Engagement from the Student Perspective
Abstract: Even pre-COVID-19, it was widely accepted that by increasing student engagement, student achievement of learning outcomes could be improved (Trowler & Trowler, 2010) . After shifts to the learning environment in response to the pandemic, the reports of decreasing student engagement are troubling (Wester, Walsh, Arango-Caro, & Callis-Duehl, 2021). As such, having a nuanced understanding of the factors that students perceive to have positive or negative impacts on their engagement is timely. This research project investigated the personal and social experiences that undergraduate students at a university in the United Arab Emirates perceived to influence their engagement. The aim was to suggest methods to support and cultivate improved student engagement in learning. Actionable recommendations to improve student engagement will be made that are helpful for teacher preparation programs, teachers when they are preparing their own instruction for their students, program designers, technologists, and administrators. This study was exploratory using a qualitative approach. It utilized the Enhanced Critical Incident Technique (ECIT) (Butterfield, Maglio, Borgen, & Amundson, 2009) within a constructivist-interpretive paradigm. Detailed structured interviews were conducted with 21 undergraduate students across all years and many programs in one university. Participants were asked to recount two critical incidents: a time they were particularly engaged in learning, and a time t