The Pivotal Role of Faculty in Online Student Engagement and Retention

Abstract

The premise of this chapter is that higher education online faculty have a pivotal role in student retention; faculty participation is key to student engagement and engaged students tend to complete courses in which they are enrolled. However, frequently faculty members are unaware of the impact their active participation and visibility has on student engagement and retention. In addition, online courses are an important source of revenue for many institutions of higher education and attrition results in loss of revenue. Given that faculty have a pivotal role in retention, institutions of higher education can benefit fiscally from guiding and supporting online faculty in strategies of student engagement and retention. Faculty support is needed during the process of change inherent in faculty adapting to teaching online, through providing on-going faculty professional development and by creating a teaching culture inclusive of informal scholarly investigations related to instructional effectiveness in online course delivery.

A narrative approach to university instructors’ stories about promoting student engagement during COVID-19 emergency remote teaching in Saudi Arabia

“…Instructors are an essential factor in the engagement equation. According to Estes (2016), university instructors play a pivotal role in promoting student engagement and retention in an online education environment.…”

“…There are significant differences between face-to-face teaching and teaching at a distance related to the physical separation between students and their peers and between students and their instructors that creates a psychological and communicative gap leading to an element of disengagement in online courses (Estes, 2016). The feeling of belonging to the academic community has a highly positive effect on student engagement and, consequently, student learning outcomes (Cummings et al, 2017;Dixson, 2010;Estes, 2016;Young & Bruce, 2011). Therefore, online teaching requires preparation for planning and implementation of strategies designed to build an academic community and motivate students to feel part of this community (Garrison et al, 1999;Young & Bruce, 2011).…”

“…Therefore, online teaching requires preparation for planning and implementation of strategies designed to build an academic community and motivate students to feel part of this community (Garrison et al, 1999;Young & Bruce, 2011). Many research studies have identified such strategies that can enhance the engagement of online students, such as creating discussion forums and encouraging students to participate; persistently connecting with students via email, learning management system (LMS) announcements, and virtual lectures (Dixson, 2010); and offering students opportunities for open communication to discuss topics of their choice (Estes, 2016). However, the instructor's role in promoting student engagement is not restricted to planning and preparing for the course: it continues during and after the course in the form of providing guidance, assistance, and feedback on students' learning performance (Yu et al, 2020).…”

“…Despite all the hard work and the numerous workshops delivered by universities to improve instructors' skills, these workshops focused only on technological skills. This is not surprising, as Estes (2016) found that educational institutions usually provide their members with training workshops that focus on technological skills, such as how to utilize the university's official LMS in online courses, rather than on pedagogical skills appropriate for distance education, which are equally as important. Indeed, no instructor in this narrative mentioned a workshop that taught instructional strategies and skills to promote students' engagement in online courses.…”

A Completely New and Sudden Reality: English Language Teacher’s Voices on Emergency Remote Teaching in Indonesian Pesantren Schools

“…In the further response, the teacher contended that teaching English to students in pesantren schools in conventional way is already challenging, let alone in this era of remote learning in which creating active student-teacher communication is getting more difficult. It is completely understandable why the teacher felt challenged to increase and maintain students' learning engagement because teachers play a critical role in encouraging student engagement and retention in an online education environment (Estes, 2016). Student engagement is central to the success of any educational process, including online learning.…”