A COMPENDIUM OF SCALES for use in the SCHOLARSHIP OF TEACHING AND LEARNING

operationalization for measuring student engagement to allow for a refined understanding of
how and under what circumstances student engagement predicts learning (Axelson & Flick,
2010). These considerations aside, much extant research has measured student interest toward
teachers and inclusion within the classroom. However, a dearth of research has examined the
measurement of student engagement as it pertains to classroom material in particular,
especially regarding student engagement in postsecondary education settings. In what follows,
we critically review widely-utilized measures relevant to assessing student engagement,
broadly defined, toward class material, focusing on their commonalities and distinctions both
from pragmatic and psychometric perspectives.
Researchers who study engagement have measured it at both a macro- and a micro-level. The
macro-level form of engagement focuses on measuring elements related to investment and
effort in school-related activities (e.g., Marks, 2000; Newmann, Wehlage, & Lamborn, 1992;
Skinner, Wellborn, & Connell, 1990) and identification or connection broadly with school and
academics (Finn, 1993; Finn & Rock, 1997). The micro-level form of engagement focuses on
measuring engagement in one particular school-related aspect, such as a particular course or
student activity (Handelsman, Briggs, Sullivan, & Towler, 2005). Although macro- and microlevel
engagement measures are positively associated, micro-level measures may allow for a
more nuanced understanding of engagement toward a particular class and the relevant
behavioral, cognitive, and affective factors in that context. For example, faculty can all recall the
example of a student who is purported to be engaged in fellow faculty members’ classes, but
clearly is not in one’s own class. This example is simple but illustrates an important point:
macro-level measures of student engagement may not be as valid in assessing student
engagement toward particular aspects of class material or a particular class. However, macrolevel
student engagement measures can be especially useful in uncovering a student’s
engagement with school more generally, which itself can have several positive outcomes. As
with any measure, trade-offs exist in using micro, relative to macro, measures. Given our focus
on student engagement toward coursework, the bulk of this chapter focuses on micro-level
measures.
Macro-Level Measure
National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE)
The main macro-level measure utilized to assess student engagement is the NSSE (Kuh, 2001).
The NSSE is used extensively by colleges and universities to evaluate engagement among
freshman and senior students. The NSSE consists of a series of college activity (behavior) items
directly measuring student engagement, educational and personal growth items, and items
regarding opinions about one’s school, as well as a variety of other questions. The NSSE
positively predicts a variety of learning-related outcomes, including grade point average, critical
thinking, and standardized test scores (Carini et al., 2006; Ewell, 2002; Pascarella & Terenzini,
2005). Nevertheless, the NSSE is designed to assess self-engagement broadly toward the
college experience, and not particularly toward coursework from specific classes. Furthermore,
the NSSE lacks a rigorous theoretical orientation that drives the organization and use of
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