Student engagement with course content and peers in synchronous online courses discussions

Abstract

As higher education institutions in United States offer online courses to growing audiences, there is increasing desire to understand how best to engage students with both course content and their peers. This case study examines the effects of assigning chat roles and facilitating self and group reflection on student-content and student-student interaction outcomes in four synchronous chats conducted in an online introductory-level sustainability course. We also considered what occurred within group reflections to inform how they are structured in the future. We found that assigning roles increased the proportion of critical student-student interactions. Self-reflections had no effect on either interaction type. Groups completing group reflections had a greater proportion of critical student-content interactions in the third chat and critical student-student interactions in the fourth chat than the groups that did not complete the group reflections. Based on our results, we plan to keep roles and group reflections going forward, and eliminate self-reflections. Furthermore, to increase the effectiveness of the group reflections, we propose some ideas to increase student ability to convert their ideas into change during subsequent chats.

The Effects of E-Learning on Students’ Motivation to Learn in Higher Education

“…E-discussion that aims to engage students with their instructors, course content, or with each other via synchronous or asynchronous modes has been well documented in the literature. A study conducted by Truhlar et al (2018) examined the effects of synchronous chats in an online course and found that assigning roles to students increased the proportion of studentstudent interaction. Prior research has also revealed that online discussion and engaging in interactive assignments stimulate students to share their opinions and develop a personal perspective (Buelow et al, 2018).…”

The Development of Autonomous Student Learning Networks: Patterns of Interactions in an Open World Learning Environment for Teachers Exploring Teaching with and through Computer Science

“…The findings of the current study are also consistent with earlier research into student interactions in online courses. Much of this research has demonstrated a positive relationship between peer interactions and student engagement and social presence [51][52][53]. These peer interactions have also been found to increase student learning: "Student engagement increases student satisfaction, enhances student motivation to learn, reduces the sense of isolation, and improves student performance in online courses," [52] (p. 205).…”

Student Experiences on Emergency Synchronous Online Teaching in Higher Education

“…İçerik etkileşimleri, öğrencileri okuma, izleme, dinleme ve etkinlik yapma dahil olmak üzere içerikle etkileşime girmeye yönlendirir. Ders okumaları ve ödevlerinin yanı sıra, tartışmalar aynı zamanda birçok öğrenci-içerik etkileşiminin gerçekleştiği yerdir (Truhlar ve Walter, 2018). Öğrenciler derslerde kullanılacak ders materyallerinin dersler başlamadan önce sisteme yüklenmiş olduğunu belirtmekle birlikte, bu materyallerin çoğunlukla eğitmenlerin slaytları, az miktarda eğitmenlerin ders notları, bazı elektronik kitaplar ve daha az miktarda da konu ile ilgili makale, film, video, belgesel ve linklerden oluştuğunu belirtmişlerdir.…”