Nurturing Techniques for High Student Engagement in Online Courses
Concurrent Session 9
Brief Abstract
Students in the online classroom engage with the content instructor, and their peers during a course. How to plan and ensure those interactions happen meaningfully are easier said than done. Learn what active learning and intrinsic motivation techniques to employ in the online classroom to boost engagement and attainment of course objectives.
Presenters
Extended Abstract
As a master reviewer for Quality Matters, I believe that courses need to be properly aligned between course level learning objectives to the module level learning objectives. The activities and assessments should match the level of the Bloom’s taxonomy. There are many opportunities and challenges to consider for higher-order thinking assessments in the online course.
The creative instructor will find the authentic and active learning that simulates the realities of the content, its products, or applications. Consider applications of the course content to allow students to explore those roles in a case study. Construct a rubric that grades the process as well as the final product so the student is supported, and guided, along the path to their conclusion.
Motivate students by allowing learner autonomy such as connecting their personal interest to course content. Set high expectations for assessments and consider making them cumulative instead of unit-based. Provide relevance of the activities and context of course content to the real world. Providing students with consistent or continuous feedback on their progress will assist in their motivation. Don't exaggerate their ability, but emphasize effort and persistence as a path to success. Expressing how other students have struggled with the content illustrates compassion while also showing your encouragement to move toward achieving the learning objective.
Monitor students with an external locus of control. Relate performance to effort to help them understand the great the effort they put into their learning, the more positive impact on their course performance. Build in success with small wins along the way to work up confidence!
The presence of the instructor is paramount to the student experience. Instructors should respond to email, discussion forums, and provide feedback on graded material within set guidelines. Consider a weekly announcement or email to wrap up the week or set up the next week. Finally, not all content should come from a textbook or others. Some needs to be instructor-created content. Give students a flavor of who you are and what you professionally bring to the course.
This educational session will utilize slides, polls, and handouts with links to exemplary models. Questions during the session will be encouraged, as well as a robust discussion period at the end focused by guiding questions for attendees.