Engaging students with interactive instructional lectures and questions to assess retention in real time. Linking the student with instructor influence in the learning experience to increase engagement and ultimately learning outcomes.
Studies suggest that strong instructor-student instructional treatments lead to better engagement and student engagement leads to better learning outcomes, especially in grounded in asynchronous distance learning [Abrami, Borokhovski, Wade, et al; 2009) Furthermore, research by Benbunan-Fich and Hiltz (2003) indicates that for online courses, the more actively involved the student, the better the perception of learning. Therefore, higher levels of interaction from the faculty member with the student through asynchronous videos contribute to improved student outcomes.
One challenge faced by asynchronous online instructors is engaging students in the same way that one might in a classroom. While it might not always be practical (or even possible) to engage students online with the same methods as in traditional face-to-face courses, we believe that it is possible to leverage educational technology to facilitate the same end results: increased cognitive engagement with the instructor and material, and improved learning outcomes. Some tools that we might employ include: posting announcements, class emails, recording videos, utilizing the text functions within the school LMS, discussion boards, etc. Recording lectures/presentations is also an effective tool.
[At this mid-point, we would pause and take a moment to poll the group: What are some ways you engage with your asynchronous online students? We would then as a community compare and discuss different ways to increase cognitive engagement in an online class.]
We can put all the information in the world out there, but the question is how do we encourage students to interact with all of those opportunities for growth? At our institution, the decision was made to create high-quality, scripted video lectures (Learning Modules) approximately 30-40 minutes in length per content module and with little to no student interaction. Initially, instructors assigned these recordings as graded components to the course, but then experienced some tracking challenges with two different learning management systems and their SCORM interfaces. Subsequently the videos were made optional/ungraded, however there was little incentive for the average student to view the recordings.
We recognized the importance of the Learning Modules, but it was a challenge to convey that value to the students and to improve the level of engagement. Additionally, we recognized the need to allow the students to work on chunks of material at time. How could we present the content in a way that students would be more inclined to work through/view materials? Research by Zhou, Briggs, Nunamaker, and Zhang (2006) suggests that online students assigned interactive video tasks (the video-questions-video-questions sequence) achieve significantly better learning performance and a higher level of learner satisfaction.
One solution was to break the chapter lectures up into much shorter mini “lecturettes” (3-7 minutes in length) and to combine the lectures with quiz/comprehension questions. We had students complete this assignment for homework credit. There are a number of ways to set the assignment up to promote students viewing/accessing the recorded content prior to answering the questions. We chose to embed links to the assignment in the publisher site and required that students launch the lecturette to unlock the questions associated with the chapter content reviewed in each section. If your institution uses the Canvas LMS system and has enabled the Arc tool, you can upload the videos into a quiz assignment and challenge the students that way. The Arc tool also allows for tracking how much time the student spent viewing each clip.
In combining a homework/quiz with the lecture content, students were encouraged to view the material (gaining that additional touch-point with their virtual instructor) and to interact with the questions in real-time. They also responded positively to combining two graded requirements into one assignment. Student feedback was overwhelmingly positive [quotes from student feedback].
[As a summary reflection activity, participants will be asked to reflect on their own online courses and consider ways to improve student engagement through enhanced personalized instructor recordings matched with unique questions directly derived from the video content. After the reflective moment, the participants will discuss their thoughts and together co-create strategies to improve engagement.]
References
1. Abrami, Philip C., Borokhovski, Eugene, Wade, C. Anne, Tamim, Rana M., Bernard, Robert M, Abrami, Philip C, Wade, C Anne, Tamim, Rana M, Surkes, Michael A, and Bethel, Edward Clement. "A Meta-Analysis of Three Types of Interaction Treatments in Distance Education." Review of Educational Research79.3 (2009): 1243-289. Web.
2. Fich, R. "Mediators of the Effectiveness of Online Courses." IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication 46.4 (2003): 298-312. Web.
3. Zhou, LN, Briggs, RO, Nunamaker, JF, Zhang, Dongsong, Zhou, Lina, Briggs, Robert O, and Nunamaker, Jay F. "Instructional Video in E-learning: Assessing the Impact of Interactive Video on Learning Effectiveness." Information & Management 43.1 (2006): 15-27. Web.