How can you use interviews to assess student engagement?

1 Benefits of interviews

Interviews are a qualitative method of data collection that can help you understand the complex and dynamic nature of student engagement. Interviews can help you explore the reasons, motivations, feelings, and perceptions behind students' behaviors and actions. Interviews can also help you capture the diversity and variability of student engagement across different contexts, such as online or face-to-face courses, individual or group work, or different disciplines or levels of study. Interviews can complement other methods of engagement assessment, such as surveys, observations, or analytics, by providing deeper and more detailed information.

2 Types of interviews

When assessing student engagement, there are various types of interviews to choose from depending on your research goals, resources, and preferences. Structured interviews involve asking a predefined set of questions in a fixed order and format, and are useful for collecting standardized and comparable data from a large number of participants. Semi-structured interviews involve asking a set of core questions while also allowing for follow-up questions or probes based on the responses. This type of interview is useful for exploring specific topics or themes while also giving room for unexpected or emergent issues or perspectives. Lastly, unstructured interviews involve having a general topic or focus but no predetermined questions or order. This type of interview is useful for generating new ideas or insights, but may require more time and skill to conduct and analyze.

3 Questions to ask

When conducting interviews, make sure to ask questions that are aligned with your research objectives and the dimensions of engagement you want to assess. Think about the level of specificity, depth, and openness of your questions, as well as the language and tone you use. To assess cognitive engagement, you can ask questions such as: “How do you approach your learning tasks?” “What strategies do you use to solve problems or overcome challenges?” “How do you monitor your progress and adjust your actions?” and “How do you connect your learning to your prior knowledge or future goals?” To assess emotional engagement, ask questions such as: “How do you feel about your course and your instructor?” “What aspects of your course make you happy, excited, curious, or interested?” and “What aspects of your course make you bored, frustrated, anxious, or angry?” To assess behavioral engagement, ask questions like: “How often and how long do you study or work on your assignments?” “How do you manage your time and resources?” and “How do you participate in class activities or discussions?” Lastly, to assess social engagement, consider asking questions like: “How do you interact with other students in your course?” “How do you collaborate or cooperate with others on group projects or assignments?” and “How do you seek or offer feedback or support?”

4 Data analysis

Analyzing your interview data requires transcribing, organizing, coding, and interpreting the responses. You can use software tools or platforms such as NVivo, Atlas.ti, or Dedoose to help with these tasks. The main steps of data analysis are transcription, organization, coding, and interpretation. Transcription involves converting audio or video recordings into text files. The accuracy and quality of the transcripts should be checked and corrected. Organization involves sorting, labeling, and storing transcripts and other relevant documents. A consistent system of naming and categorizing should be used and data should be backed up regularly. Coding involves identifying, labeling, and grouping key words, phrases, or concepts that relate to research questions or themes. Different types of codes can be used such as descriptive, interpretive, or analytical codes. A codebook should also be created that defines each code with examples. Interpretation involves making sense of the codes and finding patterns in the data. Techniques such as memo writing, mapping, or diagramming can help synthesize and visualize the data. Comparing and contrasting across participants, contexts, or dimensions is also important to look for similarities, differences, or contradictions.

5 Implications for practice

The results of your interviews can assist you in improving your teaching practices and increasing student engagement in your courses. By analyzing the results, you can identify the strengths and weaknesses of your course design, delivery, or assessment, and make necessary adjustments or modifications. Additionally, the results can help you to understand the needs, preferences, expectations, or challenges of your students so that you can provide more personalized or differentiated support or feedback. Moreover, the results can be used to recognize the achievements, contributions, or improvements of your students and provide more recognition or appreciation. Ultimately, this can help to foster a positive and supportive learning environment where students feel valued, respected, and motivated.