Implementing Best Practices to Enhance Student Engagement in the Classroom
Presented by:
Erik Eddy, Siena University
This work summarizes efforts to enhance student engagement by translating engagement theory, research, and best practices from the organization literature to the undergraduate classroom.
Keywords:
Engagement, Motivation, Drive
Abstract:
This work summarizes efforts to enhance student engagement by translating engagement theory, research, and best practices from the organization literature to the undergraduate classroom. After reviewing the most widely utilized theories of employee motivation and engagement, I distilled three overarching principles of employee engagement that were most common across these theories. I then developed 12 engagement tactics based on these three engagement principles and applied them to the development and execution of my undergraduate classroom. I report great success in translating employee engagement techniques to the classroom, leading to enhanced student engagement.
Outcomes:
1. Explore the diverse set of elements that motivate and engage students.
2. Explain how implementing learnings from the organization engagement literature can enhance undergraduate student engagement in the classroom.
3. Apply the research findings to enhance student engagement by implementing 12 engagement tactics described in this work.
Hear it from the author:
Transcript:
A 2025 Gallup Poll finds that only 30% of employees are engaged, 54% of employees are disengaged and 16% of employees are actively disengaged – working against company success. If this was a group of 100 rowers in a boat, only 30 would be rowing in the correct direction, 54 would be sitting still in the boat, and 16 would actually be rowing in the wrong direction.
What are the chances of success?
In Spring 2025, I was asked to develop and deliver a class on “Enhancing employee motivation and engagement” at Siena University. As I reviewed research and best practices on this topic, I began to see tremendous parallels between workplace engagement and classroom engagement. In many ways, the organization/manager/employee relationships at work are mirrored in the college/faculty/student relationships in the classroom. And, unfortunately, I’ve seen a tremendous drop in student engagement mirroring the workplace engagement statistics I’ve just mentioned.
In essence, I decided to use my classroom as a “laboratory” of sorts in an attempt to determine whether organizational research and best practice recommendations could be applied to enhance classroom engagement. I developed 12 engagement tactics and applied them to the development and execution of my undergraduate classroom.
Both faculty and student evaluation of these 12 tactics were extremely positive and I share these tactics in this Poster.
References:
Byrne, Z. S. (2022). Understanding employee engagement: Theory, research, and practice. Routledge.
Diefendorff, J. M., & Chandler, M. M. (2011). Motivating employees. In S. Zedeck (Ed.), APA handbook of industrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 3. Maintaining, expanding, and contracting the organization (pp. 65–135). American Psychological Association.
Pink, D. H. (2011). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Penguin.