Student Engagement in Public Universities in the Context of University of Raparin Kurdistan Region--Iraq.

To the best of our knowledge this is the first attempt to investigate student engagement in learning within the Kurdistan region in general and at University of Raparin in particular. Student engagement, self-learning, faculty-student interaction and promoting personal responsibility, besides environment of learning are the components for this research. Research has shown that the students who are motivated, engaged, and interactive are more likely to be successful during their study at university. In brief, this research presents a review of the literature and trends in order to determine the obstacles of better student engagement and student achievement in university of Raparin at undergraduate level sample study takes fourth year English department students and second year Nursing students. Research Aim This research aims to introduce, discuss, and develop a strategy for enhancing student engagement in public universities particularly, "UOR" University of Raparin, in Kurdistan region. The strategy focuses on individual roles and students' responsibilities on the one hand, and teaching staff also the impact of the quality of facilities on the educational environment on the other. The researcher identified what aspects of university facilities, teachers and environment has the greatest potential to impact student learning. The findings of this research study has implications for setting a strategy that increases student engagement by providing better learning environment for students in university of Raparin besides, enhancing faculty-student relations. Keywords: Student Engagement, Challenges, Public Universities Method: - A hypothetic - deductive approach which accounts for consistency, adequacy and simplicity of research has been employed. It also accommodates my feasible point of view of Students engagement in Kurdistan Region-Iraq. Also, material adequacy has been achieved in the analysis of field work data. Accordingly this study is structured as follows: First a brief review of the prior literature on student engagement in public universities in Kurdistan region and followed by the survey conducted in two departments in university of Raparin, Faculty of Education-English department fourth Year, and school of Nursing Second year students. The data collected and analyzed with concluding remarks on student respond. Background of Student Engagement in the Context of Kurdistan -University of Raparin The debate of student's engagement has only recently become an issue in the Higher Education sector in the Kurdistan region. To begin with, student engagement is now being taken into account as a major predictor of student learning. Kuh (2003) presents that "The more students study or practice a subject, the more they tend to learn about it". Moreover, classroom interaction which is pivotal for building a healthy relationship between teachers and students has attracted the attention of Kurdish scholars and educators. Curriculum reform and development is undertaken by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, and their main priorities have been to reduce the traditional emphasis on memorization, teacher-centered classrooms, and traditional reforms of assessment. Student engagement emphasizes the importance of student-centered teaching styles that helps students develop self-study skills. Furthermore, it helps students grow self-confidence in the classroom. This makes students feel more relaxed when engaging in class discussions and encourages greater participation as the classroom environment requires students to actively demonstrate their abilities. Three key questions should be taken into consideration; why is student engagement crucial for academic success? How can healthy relationships between students and teachers be established? What steps are necessary for increasing student engagement within classrooms at public universities such as the University of Raparin? The primary goal of student's engagement is to boost students' academic performance during their studies. To overcome the widespread problem of poor student engagement within Kurdistan public universities will require considerable effort. The key aim of this research is to determine why student's engagement is so low and to find solutions for addressing these problems. Student academic performance is linked to factors that are inseparable from teaching and learning, and this touch on the quality of facilities available and the learning environment, and the capacities of teachers themselves. More significantly, student engagement is the way to encourage students to interact with their teachers, and increase students' sense of responsibility towards their institution, and also commitment to complete their academic studies successfully.