The current literature on student engagement, which implicitly encompasses the ‘first year student experience’, tends to focus on the outcomes of student surveys. Notwithstanding the importance of such surveys in providing a moment-in-time snapshot of student views on their learning experience, there has been very little research carried out on the validity and reliability of the current measures of student engagement. Yet the outcomes of student surveys, taken at face value, may well lead to incorrect assumptions being made regarding the specific characteristics both in and out of class which influence levels of student engagement.

Research-led universities have a particular responsibility to provide a research-informed teaching and learning experience for our students. This means that in addition to drawing on disciplinary-based research in our teaching, we should provide a curriculum which is underpinned by pedagogical research. A further responsibility for all universities is to recognise that teaching/facilitation of student learning is a legitimate focus for research for disciplinary-based academics (Stefani and Elton, 2002)¹. The professional development agenda for academic staff should in itself be research-led.; this agenda should and could promote curriculum research.

In a constantly changing higher education environment, there is a need to both review the ultimate purpose(s) of higher education and develop new strategies to achieve these purposes, and support staff in acquiring the perspectives, knowledge and skills we need individually and organisationally to promote and enhance student engagement.

The aims of this paper are two-fold:

• To present potential research topics on the theme of student engagement to stimulate discussion and debate about a U21 research agenda
• To promote the idea that persuading academics to view themselves as professional educators would constitute a culture change which could ‘future-proof” the importance of universities to a complex and uncertain world.

¹ Stefani, L.A.J. and Elton, L. (2002) Continuing Professional Development of Academic Teachers Through Self-initiated Learning. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education 27 (2): 117-129