Preferred Learning Strategies of Tertiary Students who Experience Success: The Top Five Engagement ‘Basic Elements’ of 2021-2023

This paper highlights the importance of utilizing innovative evidence-based teaching strategies that keep students motivated and engaged to support success in their tertiary academic studies. Research consistently reports that students are more likely to persist and succeed in their studies when they feel supported, challenged, and connected to their learning environment. Listening to tertiary student voices between 2021-2023 on what strategies improved their engagement and learning, this paper summarises student suggestions over six trimesters at a rural Australian university. The strategies nominated by students as supporting successful learning were the use of a flexible submission portal for assessments, clearly defined rubrics, video explanation of assessments, providing exemplars of requirements and the consistent presentation of unit content across the learning management site. By incorporating a flexible submission portal for assessments, clearly defined rubrics, video explanation of assessments, providing exemplars of requirements, and presenting units consistently across the learning management site, these were consistently the strategies students voted over three years as being most helpful to their learning. This paper emphasizes the need for universities to listen to student evaluation suggestions and prioritize effective teaching strategies as a key factor in promoting student retention, success, and overall satisfaction in higher education.