Factor structures associated with online student engagement in campus-based blended and online distance education settings

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v26i0.2667

Keywords:

Student engagement, learning management systems, blended learning, online education, distance education

Abstract

This research is strictly grounded in the work undertaken by Coates regarding traditional campus-based settings of student engagement and was applied to the online settings positioned within the domain settings of blended online learning design and practice in an Australian higher education business context. Utilising an online student survey instrument, across two consecutive academic years, undergraduate commerce students were invited to reflect upon their learning engagement experience through the lens of a common learning management system (LMS) a resource accessible to both campus-based and off-campus student cohorts. Subsequent analysis of the research reconfirms the existence of student engagement constructs of Coates in the blended online setting, but also unexpectedly revealed a previously unknown construct relating to Assessment. This new student engagement construct, Assessment, is identified as being a significant motivational factor relevant to student engagement in the context of the blended online learning environment of this higher education business undergraduate commerce course and is the focus of this exposition.

References

Astin, A.W. (1985). Achieving Educational Excellence: A Critical Analysis of Priorities and Practices in Higher Education. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.

Atkinson, D. & Lim, S.L. (2013). Improving assessment processes in Higher Education: Student and teacher perceptions of the effectiveness of a rubric embedded in a LMS. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology. 29(5), pp. 651-666.

Bonk, C.J. & Zhang, K. (2008). Empowering online learning: 100 + activities for reading, reflecting, displaying, & doing. John Wiley & Sons: San Francisco.

Boud, D. (2010). Student Assessment for Learning In and After Courses. Final Report for Senior Fellowship. Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC): http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-student-assessment-learning-and-after-courses-uts-2010

Boud, D. & Molloy, E. (2013). (Eds.). Feedback in Higher and Professional Education Understanding it and doing it well. Routledge: London.

Chickering, A.W. & Gamson, Z.F. (1987). Seven principles for good practice in undergraduate education. AAHE Bulletin, 39(7), pp. 3-7.

Coates, H. (2006). Student engagement in campus-based and online education: university connections. Routledge: London.

Coates, H. (2010). Development of the Australasian survey of student engagement (AUSSE). Higher Education, 60, pp. 1-17.

Coates, H. & McCormick, A.C. (Eds.) (2014). Engaging University Students International Insights from System-Wide Studies. Springer: Singapore.

Coates, H. & McCormick, A.C. (2014). Introduction: Student Engagement – A Window into Undergraduate Education. In H. Coates & A.C. McCormick (Eds.) (2014). Engaging University Students International Insights from System-Wide Studies. Springer: Singapore, pp.1-12.

Cudeck, R., & Henly, S. J. (2003). A realistic perspective on pattern representation in growth data: Comment on Bauer and Curran (2003). Psychological Methods, 8, pp.378–383.

Dawson, P. (2017). Assessment rubrics: towards clearer and more replicable design, research and practice. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(3), pp. 347-360. DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2015.1111294

Garrison, D.R. & Anderson, T. (2003). E-Learning in the 21st Century. A Framework for Research and Practice.Routledge Falmer: London.

Hair, J., Anderson, R., Tatham, R. and Black, W. (1998). Multivariate Data Analysis (5th Edition). Prentice Hall: New Jersey.

Hair, J, F. (Jr), Black, J. F., Babin, J. & Anderson R. E. (2009). Multivariate Data Analysis (7th Edition). Prentice Hall: New Jersey. ISBN-10: 0138132631 • ISBN-13: 9780138132637

Henderson, M., Boud, D., Molloy, E., Dawson, P., Phillips, M., Ryan, T., Walker, H. & Mahoney, P. (2016). Feedback for Learning Closing the assessment loop. Federal Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching (in progress). Project website: https://feedbackforlearning.org/

Hinton, P. R., McMurray, I. & Brownlow, C. (2014). SPSS Explained (2nd Edition). Routledge Taylor and Francis: East Sussex, UK.

Howson, C.K. & Buckley, A. (2017). Development of the UK engagement survey. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 42(7), pp. 1132-1144. DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2016.1235134

Jonsson, A. (2014). Rubrics as a way of providing transparency in assessment. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 39(7), pp. 840-852. DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2013.875117

Kaiser, H.F. (1960). The application of electronic computers to factor analysis. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 20, pp. 141-151.

Kuh, G.D. (2003). What we’re learning about student engagement from NSSE. Change, 35(2), pp. 24-31.

Kuh, G.D., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J.H., Whitt, E.J., & Associates (2005). Student success in college: Creating conditions that matter. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco.

Lawson, R. (2015). Curriculum design for assuring learning – leading the way. Final Report for Senior Fellowship. Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT): http://www.olt.gov.au/resource-curriculum-design-assuring-learning-leading-way-2015

MacCallum, R. C., Widaman, K., Zhang, Shaobo. (1999) Sample Size in Factor Analysis. Psychological Methods, 4(1), pp. 84-99 DOI:10.1037/1082-989X.4.1.84

Nicol (2010). Re-engineering Assessment Practices in Higher Education: http://www.reap.ac.uk/Home.aspx

Oliver, B. (2013). Graduate attributes as a focus for institution-wide curriculum renewal: innovations and challenges. Higher Education Research & Development, 32(3), pp.450-63.

Pallant, J. (2005). SPSS Survival Manual. A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS for Windows (Ver 12.0). Allen and Unwin Press: Crows Nest, Australia.

Pace, C.R. (1979). Measuring Outcomes of College: Fifty Years of Findings and Recommendations for the Future. Jossey Bass: San Francisco.

Pace, C.R. (1995). From Good Practices to Good Products: Relating Good Practices in Undergraduate Education to Student Achievement. Paper presented at the Association for Institutional Research, Boston.

Palmer, S., & Holt, D. (2009). Staff and student perceptions of an online learning environment: Difference and development. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 25(3), pp. 366- 381.

Palmer, S., & Holt, D. (2010). Students’ perceptions of the value of the elements of an online learning environment: Looking back in moving forward. Interactive Learning Environments, 18(2), pp. 135-151.

Palmer, S. & Holt, D. (2012). Trajectories of engagement: a repeated cross-sectional investigation of student perceptions of an online learning environment. Research in Learning Technology, 20, pp. 253-265.

Palmer, S. & Holt, D. (2014). Development of student and academic staff perceptions of the elements of an online learning environment over time. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 30(4), pp. 375-389.

Parkin, H.J., Hepplestone, S., Holden, G., Irwin, B. & Thorpe, L. (2012). A role for technology in enhancing students’ engagement with feedback. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 37(8), pp. 963-973. DOI: 10.1080/02602938.2011.592934

Pye, G., Holt, D., & Salzman, S., Bellucci, E., Lombardi, L. (2015). Engaging diverse student audiences in contemporary blended learning environments in Australian higher business education: Implications for design and practice. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 19, pp. 1-20.

Pye, G., Holt, D. & Salzman, S. (2018). Investigating different patterns of student engagement with blended learning environments in Australian business education: Implications for design and practice. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 22, pp. 1-23.

Preacher, K. J., Zhang, G., Kim, C. & Mels, G. (2013). Choosing the Optimal Number of Factors in Exploratory Factor Analysis: A Model Selection Perspective. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 48, pp. 28–56, ISSN: 0027-3171 print/1532-7906 online. DOI: 10.1080/00273171.2012.710386.

Salmon, G. (2011). E-moderating. The Key to Teaching and Learning Online. Routledge: New York.

Sass, D.A., Schmitt, T.A. (2010). A Comparative Investigation of Rotation Criteria within Exploratory Factor Analysis. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 45 (1), pp. 73-103.

Schmitt, T.A. (2011). Current Methodological Considerations in Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 29(4), pp. 304-321.

Small, F. & Attree, K. (2016). Undergraduate student responses to feedback: expectations and experiences, Studies in Higher Education, 41(11), pp. 2078-2094. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2015.1007944

Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. University of Chicago Press: Chicago.

Tinto, V. (1997). Classrooms as communities: exploring the educational character of student persistence. Journal of Higher Education, 68(6), pp. 599-623.

Winstone, N.E., Nash, R.A., Rowntree, J. & Parker, M. (2017). ‘It’d be useful, but I wouldn’t use it’: barriers to university students’ feedback seeking and recipience. Studies in Higher Education, 42(11), pp. 2026-2041. DOI: 10.1080/03075079.2015.1130032

Downloads

Published

2022-05-01

How to Cite

Pye, G., Holt, D., & Salzman, S. (2022). Factor structures associated with online student engagement in campus-based blended and online distance education settings. Australasian Journal of Information Systems, 26. https://doi.org/10.3127/ajis.v26i0.2667

Issue

Section

Research Articles