Concern over student engagement has become central to conversations regarding quality in higher education, but what does 'student engagement' really mean? And once we know, how do we achieve it? Based on the premise that “if we don't know where we're going, how will we know when we get there?”, Dr. Barkley shares a 5-element theoretical model for defining and understanding student engagement that provides a framework for promoting it in today's university classroom. Dr. Barkley’s model identifies the five components for promoting student engagement as motivation, active learning, building a sense of community, creating appropriately challenging tasks and teaching for holistic learning.