Student engagement in online and blended learning in a higher education institution in the Middle East: Challenges and solutions

Blended learning for the “multi-track” undergraduate students in Ghana in an adverse era

“…The premise of CoI framework is the work of John Dewey which is consistent with collaborative constructivist learning in higher education [22] . The CoI framework is a prominent model which has been consistently applied in higher education in online and blended learning environment [20] . In the CoI model, three core elements are encouraged in creating sustainable blended courses; social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence.…”

“…Cognitive presence demands both social and teaching presence. In an online or a blended learning environment, cognitive presence affords an instructor the luxury of creating a learning environment that promotes student engagement and high-level thinking through collaborative communication [20] .…”

A survey assessing the health science students' perception towards online learning at a Saudi Higher Education Institution during COVID-19 pandemic

“…However, Farrell and Brunton (2020) found that active student engagement in online learning was impacted by factors like life load, confidence, course design, peer community, and active instructors. Also, due to inadequate online teaching practice/training, some faculty members using their face-to-face teaching methods online during COVID-19 might negatively influence students' online learning and reduce their engagement (Fazza and Mahgoub, 2021).…”

Psychometrics evaluation of the university student engagement inventory in online learning among Arab students

“…In recent years, when traditional learning and teaching are no longer an option [ 18 ], online learning has become the main style of learning due to its prominent role among all those who desire to learn, and in order that it’s many advantages, including creating learning opportunities for people in any place, a large number of persons can participate in online learning [ 19 ]. Studies show that despite the positive effects and the necessity of students’ participation in online learning from one side and addresses the challenges and providing solutions such as “affective expression (Sense of belonging in the course, Forming distinct impressions of classmates, Online communication as a medium for social interaction), open communication (Feeling comfortable talking/conversing through the online medium, Feeling comfortable participating/interacting in course discussions), and group cohesion (Feeling comfortable disagreeing with other course participants while maintaining a sense of trust in them, Feeling comfortable that your point of view is acknowledged by classmates)” as learners engage actively in online learning on the other hand; the participation of learners in online education is not ideal and sufficient, and there are still issues and dilemmas in this field [ 2 , 3 , 19 , 20 ].…”