Student engagement in a Human Anatomy and Physiology course: a New Zealand perspective

The population diversity of New Zealand is due to the unique fusion of indigenous peoples of Polynesian origin (Māori), western European colonization (Pākehā), and more recent (20th century) immigration from the Pacific region (Pasifika). However, disparities in tertiary education indicate that Māori and Pasifika students are more likely to drop out during their first year of study and are less likely to complete their qualification than their Pākehā peers. Higher levels of course engagement may increase first-year grades, elevate academic performance, and encourage persistence between the first and second years of study. Therefore, a Student Course Engagement Questionnaire was used to quantify engagement in a compulsory first-year undergraduate Human Anatomy and Physiology course in a New Zealand university. A data mining technique was used to assign students into a low-engagement/low-achievement cluster, and a high-engagement/high-achievement cluster. The skills, emotional, and participation-interaction components of engagement were lower in Pasifika students: these students' academic grade was lower than those of both Māori and Pākehā students. The strongest predictors of cluster membership were skills engagement and emotional engagement, suggesting that these components outweighed other aspects of course engagement. Māori and Pasifika students were overrepresented in the low-engagement/low-achievement cluster, and underrepresented in the high-engagement/high-achievement cluster. We suggest that embedding study skills within course delivery, and constantly emphasizing their importance, would likely increase student course engagement. Also, we report that both Māori and Pasifika students remain more disengaged than their Pākehā peers.