Work based learners’ engagement with the university: an exploratory study

This exploratory study was carried out in the context of current literature on higher education supporting the critical role of student engagement for retention, quality of learning, achievement and graduation and as such serves as a proxy for quality. Therefore institutional efforts to increase the quality of education provision need to focus on ways in which student engagement can be enriched.
This present study adopted a holistic approach to include what the literature regards as the two main components of student engagement: the learner's context and motivations, and the approach and strategies of a higher education institution (HEI).
The study's primary aims were to gain an understanding of the WBL student's experience; identify any gaps that exist between current provision and expectations; and achieve indicators of good practice at institutional level to strengthen work-based learners' engagement.
A sample of seven Work Based Learning (WBL) students from the London campus, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, who graduated from Middlesex University's Institute for Work Based Learning (IWBL) in 2009, was interviewed by two independent researchers. In addition, relevant data was drawn from a student evaluation survey conducted by IWBL in July 2009. As student engagement is seen to be a dual interaction between students' expectations and institutional strategies, informal and formal conversations and interviews were also held with members of IWBL staff.

The study was completed in October 2009