A study of student engagement at industrial university of Ho Chi Minh city

Tóm tắt

Though being extensively studied and discussed worldwide, ‘student engagement’ defined as the time and the quality of effort students put into their learning and their involvement in educationally purposeful activities, has been scarcely explored in Vietnamese scholarly literature. To make a preliminary exploration of ‘Vietnamese student engagement’, this case study design research investigated how undergraduate students of Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city engaged in their study and other educationally purposeful activities and how they perceived the level to which they are challenged and supported by their institution. For data collection, a survey with the participation of 500 students was employed. Data analysis indicated (i) insufficient student academic effort; (ii) students’ positive perception of lecturers’ teaching practices and the university’s support; (iii) low levels of academic challenge (iv) limited interactions between students and lecturers and low quality of students’ interactions with agents of socialization on campus. To promote student engagement, the university should improve assessment practices, pay more attention to the development of students’ high-order thinking, integrative and reflecting thinking skills. Moreover, the university should enhance student - lecturer interactions and create a more friendly campus environment.