Evaluating and Profiling Student Engagement and Motivation at a Higher Education Institution

Purpose: This study aimed to identify the main areas and features of student engagement at a university. The research also focuses on evaluating the main features of student engagement that can be used for profiling student motivation. Methodology: The data for this study was gathered at the end of the spring semester of 2018 at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (WULS), one of the largest life sciences universities in Poland, using an Internet-based instrument called Evolute. The data in this research consisted of self-evaluation responses from 242 undergraduate students on Master’s and Bachelor’s programs. The respondents filled out an online questionnaire. Findings: The results were presented in a three-stage analysis (descriptive statistics, a fuzzy logic-based method, and a clustering method for profiling student engagement). The results identified some key attributes of student engagement. The highest creative tension was noticed in student satisfaction, which reflects a gap in that area that could be improved by the university. The findings showed that highly motivated students presented high values in routinization and goal progress. Practical implication: The proposed solution could be used for further profiling according to applied additional criteria, such as type, of course, year of education, lecturers, work experience, etc. Originality/value: The study findings hold essential theoretical and practical implications for educators and researchers seeking to understand how students evaluate their engagement and reveal the gaps in university committees.