Conversations with Ella Kahu: Guest Editorial

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.3709

Keywords:

Student Engagement Framework, Ella Kahu, first year experience

Abstract

This special issue of Student Success celebrates the work of Professor Ella Kahu and her substantial contribution to the advancement of our collective understanding of student engagement. In June 2024 Professors Karen Nelson and Chi Baik, and Dr Cat Picton sat down with Ella for a reflective conversation about her work, and additional insights in her theorising and research on student experience and engagement. In this special issue, we present the interview transcript and showcase Ella’s key publications from her early theorising on the student engagement framework, through her collaborations with Professor Karen Nelson and the development of the educational interface to a series of empirical articles, exploring different dimensions of the student experiences, including students’ expectations of university, student belonging and metaphors of learning and life. This special issue takes us on a journey of the evolving scholarship and practice of Professor Ella Kahu. Part One presents the conceptual foundations of the framework of student engagement. Part Two explores the first-year student experience. Part Three delves in to teaching practices that promote student engagement.

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Author Biographies

Catherine Picton, University of the Sunshine Coast

Dr Catherine Picton is a Student Success and Development Coordinator at the University of the Sunshine Coast. Her research interests include students’ experiences of student services, student engagement, and academic student success advising, with a focus on the regional university experience. Cat has extensively researched and published with Professor Ella Kahu, forging a powerful professional partnership and lifelong friendship. In her current professional role, Cat is implementing a pan-university, embedded approach to student development focussing on cross-disciplinary skills and competencies. This works stems from a Regional University Network collaboration and the development of an Advising Curriculum (Picton et al., 2021). Cat is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and has a keen interest in the recognition of integrated ‘third space’ practitioners who work across professional and academic boundaries.  

Chi Baik, The University of Melbourne

Chi is a Professor of Higher Education at the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, University of Melbourne, where her research explores factors influencing the educational experiences and outcomes of students from diverse backgrounds. She has led major funded studies that have informed institutional policies and practices including national projects on the first-year experience, international student engagement, and student mental wellbeing.

She is currently leading an interdisciplinary Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery project investigating alterable factors that impact student mental health and wellbeing in Australian universities.

In addition to leading a large research group on the Student Experience in Higher Education and supervising doctoral candidates, much of Chi’s work at the CSHE focuses on the development of programs and resources to promote and recognise effective university teaching and to improve student engagement.

Conversations with Ella Kahu - Special Issue

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Published

2024-12-04

How to Cite

Picton, C., & Baik, C. (2024). Conversations with Ella Kahu: Guest Editorial. Student Success, 15(3), i-iii. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.3709

Issue

Vol. 15 No. 3 (2024): Special Issue: Conversations with Ella Kahu

Section

Introduction

License

Copyright (c) 2024 Catherine Picton, Chi Baik

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright and grant the Journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution International Licence (CC BY 4.0) that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.