Engagement needs to be defined

This Times Higher Education article raises question about student engagement, what it means and the various ways institutions can foster it.  It asks if the term has become a new buzzword and properly traces its origin to Alexander Astin's earlier research and publications advocating for more student involvement.  The idea of student engagement actually could be traced even further back to the very origins of student personnel work in the early 20th century.  The democratic education ideas of John Dewey influenced early student affairs visionaries and these were central to the ways that the early deans of men and women interacted with their students.