Interpreting silence: exploring student engagement in higher education

Abstract

This study explores the academic phenomenon of student silence when faced with the alternative of providing feedback and suggestions for course improvement. In the academic literature, student silence has been interpreted in various ways. Sometimes, it is seen as indicative of satisfaction with the structure and content of the course and, at others, as a lack of engagement or interest, factors that could demotivate students. We surveyed 145 university students from different countries (Spain, the United States, and France) on binary variables that reflect whether a feature has helped facilitate engagement. We re-coded the open-ended question of whether there is something to improve in the subject (yes/no). If a student does not answer, we consider them silent. We used relationship maps to analyze the frequency of silence with variables that improve engagement.