Fostering Student Engagement Online
True or false: “Live interaction is the only way to keep students engaged in their learning.” False! We can raise the bar in asynchronous courses with activities that create community through collaboration and give students rich learning experiences. See below for the presentation slides, a video of the presentation, a list of resources, and questions and comments from webinar participants.
The Presentation
To access the presentation below, you can scroll down on each column or to the right to see more columns. Clicking the arrow in the box in the top right-hand corner will take you to the full site of the presentation board.
Thanks to the following instructors for providing examples: Keith Delaney, Laura Marrone, Wesley van Wychen, Christine Logel, Tim Paci, Ted McGee, Dorothy Hadfield, Jessica Thompson, Julie Messier, Christine Zaza.
The Video
Resources
App suggestions made by participants and/or referenced in the webinar:
Kialo / Voice Thread / Bongo / Notion / Milanote / Miro / Padlet / Wakelet / Google Docs / MS Teams / Hypothes.is / Perusall / Kritik / Diigo
Fostering Engagement: Facilitating Online Courses in Higher Education https://contensis.uwaterloo.ca/sites/open/courses/FEFOCHE/toc/home/home.aspx
Remote Teaching: Seminars and Discussion-based Courses https://contensis.uwaterloo.ca/sites/open/resources/CEL-ORR/toc/modules/remote-teaching-seminar-courses.aspx
Icebreakers for Online Classes https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/teaching-tips-creating-positive-learning-environment/icebreakers-online-classes
Building Community in Large Classes
https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/creating-positive-learning-environment/inclusivity-accessibility-and-motivation/building-community-large-classes
Community of Inquiry https://coi.athabascau.ca/
Universal Design For Learning Guidelines http://udlguidelines.cast.org/
Paul, R.W. Questions for a Socratic Dialogue http://courses.cs.vt.edu/cs2104/Summer2014/Notes/SocraticQ.pdf
Flynn, A. & Kerr, J. (2020) Remote Teaching: A Guide for Teaching Assistants. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/remotecourse/
Active Learning While Physically Distancing
https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ZtTu2pmQRU_eC3gMccVhVwDR57PDs4uxlMB7Bs1os8/mobilebasic
Supporting Students’ Mental Well-being: Instructional Strategies https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/teaching-tips-planning-courses-and-assignments/supporting-students-mental-wellbeing-instructional
RISE model for peer feedback
https://www.emilywray.com/rise-model
Strategies for large online/remote courses
https://onlinelearning.utoronto.ca/large-courses/
Tips for Designing and Moderating Large Enrolment Online Courses
https://edservices.wiley.com/tips-designing-moderating-large-online-courses/
McGill University resources:
Teaching Strategies https://www.mcgill.ca/tls/instructors/class-disruption/strategies/teaching#promoting-engagement
Assessment Strategies https://www.mcgill.ca/tls/instructors/class-disruption/strategies/assessment
Beyond Grading https://www.mcgill.ca/tls/instructors/assessment/strategies-mcgill-instructors
Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication: Tools for Collaboration http://etec.ctlt.ubc.ca/510wiki/Synchronous_and_Asynchronous_Communication:Tools_for_Collaboration
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2010). The first decade of the community of inquiry framework: A retrospective. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(1), 5-9.
https://contensis.uwaterloo.ca/sites/open/courses/FEFOCHE/toc/unit-2/2b.aspx (references the COI)
Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2000). Critical inquiry in a text-based environment: Computer conferencing in higher education. The Internet and Higher Education, 2(2-3), 87-105. http://cde.athabascau.ca/coi_site/documents/Garrison_Anderson_Archer_Critical_Inquiry_model.pdf
deNoyelles, A., Zydney, J.M., & Chen, B (2014). Strategies for creating a community of inquiry through online asynchronous discussions. MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching. 10(1), 153-165. https://jolt.merlot.org/vol10no1/denoyelles_0314.pdf
Example questions for collecting feedback from students about the course (set up as end-of-term activity, but can be used anytime) https://mi.mcmaster.ca/app/uploads/2020/03/End-of-Term-Student-Feedback.pdf
Questions and Comments
I feel hesitant asking this, but in my online course I have on-line office hours, but considering the possibility of students in many time zones, I ask them to make an appointment (within a certain time window) and I will respond by Zoom or other formats. Last year I had real office hours and I had a few come, but this year with virtual office hours, no one wants me! I am feeling disengaged! What can I do?
Participants had a lot of comments about this. One idea came through: general office hours don’t work well in the virtual environment; they have to have a specific purpose.
Participant comments:
I have office hours too this term. No takers. :( I just keep on sending messages to the whole class and offering assistance as needed. Put a message on all my announcements to email if they want to meet.
That’s really common. Students tend to be intimidated by online office hours (not knowing what to expect, not knowing who will be there or if they will be put on the spot). An alternative format where you may have better uptake is have a more structured office hour or tutorial that is structured around things students may be struggling with (determined via a survey where you invite them to share anonymously what they are struggling with or questions they have or from looking at stumbling points on recent assessments - like quizzes). Let students know ahead of time what you will cover in the short tutorial/office hour and that you’ll open it up for more questions. Invite students to ask their questions via the chat function if they like, not requiring students to turn on their video or mic).
I plan to poll students and find out what time zones they are in. Then I will select a time (or times) that would work for students. If I need to have more than one time, I will rotate the time week to week. Hopefully that would help with engagement, and if my office hours in one week don’t work for someone, they could set up a different time with me.
I'm going to try re-branding them as "student drop-in hours" this term. I think that sometimes "office hours" can sound intimidating for students. I also have a blurb in my syllabus about what the drop-in hours are for and the types of things that students can talk to me about to give them some ideas.
We call them drop-in hours. We have also tried group tutorials here, and they have generally worked well. Usually 4-5 students at a time, so that they feel comfortable to speak up.
Q&A forums tend to attract more students than virtual office hours.
I am interested in the scalability of presence. Many large courses are now moving online and that is testing the ability of providing support.
That’s true, large courses make it difficult to provide one-to-one interaction with students. One thing I’ve noticed, however, is how much students in online courses of any size appreciate seeing and hearing (through audio and video) their instructor. For quick hits of content, quick explanations of concepts, or to answer some questions, I create what I call ProfMoments – short videos less than 10 minutes (if possible less than five minutes) in duration. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been recognized in cafes or stores by students who recognize my chiseled good looks or distinctive laugh.
How do you address redundant questions? Or reduce them?
Course design plays a big role here – clear directions, simple course policies, etc. reduce the amount of email students will send asking housekeeping questions. Setting up a Q&A forum is also a good idea – other students will often answer the questions for you.
Participant comment:
I copy the question and my answer to a Q&A discussion forum.
Any thoughts on student motivation and keeping students motivated throughout the semester. Online seems to be very daunting for them.
Online courses are daunting for both students AND instructors – everyone feels their energy flagging as the term wears on.
Variety is key. Providing different kinds of content, tasks, and assignments can keep things fresh, so to speak. You want to have structure and some regular aspects so that students can develop a rhythm, but within that framework aim for variety.
Participant comments:
I am planning on using the Achievements tool in Blackboard (it allows instructors to award badges and certificates). There is some interesting research about how motivation can be strengthened with achievements.
Here's an article I read a few years ago on the issue of engaging students all term long: https://campustechnology.com/articles/2014/07/30/motivate-and-engage-online-learners-all-semester-long.aspx. I've also been thinking of having students update their Intro messages at various points throughout the term.
Can you show an example of embedding the content in discussion? Maybe a screen shot of a UW LEARN module page?
Click on the image to see it full size.
Would this be all the content for a given module? Or on top of content also in a module or similar?
In this course, an introduction to German cultural studies, each module will have 5-8 content items like the one shown above.
Are there tools that can embed reflective/discussion prompts into the content - rather than having students either in the content or in the discussion? But as I see the other question, maybe I should be thinking about embedding content into the discussion instead?
There are apps that you and students can use to annotate websites and other online documents: hypothes.is, Kritik, Perusall, Diigo. Putting the content into a discussion brings the content to the students; putting the discussion into the content brings the students to the content.
I suspect some of the students never look at the discussions (even if they're worth marks) and then miss some content!
I think you’re right. I also think some students come to class and miss content. Learners have to take ultimate responsibility for their learning. Our job as instructors is to remove as many obstacles as we can to their engagement with the course.
What’s your take on appealing to creating content that appeals to different learning styles (visual, logical, kinesthetic and auditory learning styles)?
“Learning styles” is a disputed concept, and I’m not that well versed in the debate. But “learning preferences” are a real thing. Again, variety is key here, as is shown in the Universal Design for Learning framework. You’ll want to provide learning content in various formats, sometimes repeating the same ideas in different formats, in order to appeal to all learners. This can help keep their motivation up.
At the same time, though, you want to impress upon your students that university courses are also a good opportunity for them to engage with material that they find intimidating, boring, or inaccessible. Providing guided reflection activities where they examine why they find some kinds of content more challenging than others can go a long way to helping them meet those challenges.
Students have said they find on-line group work difficult.
I don’t doubt that. And the Learning Management Systems that we use in higher education (Brightspace, Blackboard, Canvas, etc.) focus more on assessment tools instead of collaboration tools, though their discussion forums are actually pretty good. Students often resist group work because of concerns about how it will be marked (will slackers get the same grade as those who pull their weight?) and logistics (organizing group meetings is hard at the best of times, and may be harder in a virtual environment that doesn’t provide all the tools necessary for synchronous group meetings).
One thing that might help: collaboration doesn’t have to entail a group project. Having students work together on something as simple as a discussion forum task can reap engagement benefits.
Do you have suggestions for facilitating online group work?
What really helps is giving students explicit instructions and tips for online group work. Drexel University has provided this handy infographic (which is followed by additional tips): https://www.online.drexel.edu/news/group-tips.aspx. Other ideas that have been used in normal (ie face-to-face situations): 1) grade individual contributions as well as the group product; 2) group contracts can help students set the rules of engagement; 3) some sort of peer evaluation guide.
See the Resources section for a variety of apps that were suggested in the webinar or by other participants.
This is a bit of a vague question, but what can be done about the overwhelming feeling that all of these suggestions and examples are just too much, especially for instructors who have not used these tools or strategies in the past? What are the most important aspects that most need to be focused on if you can't imagine doing all of this? I realize that it's partly a matter of feeling okay with not being a master of all these tools already. But at the same time, if you’re wanting to do a really good job of this, it can be intimidating.
I think you choose the tools or strategies that you think will work best in your context and give it your best shot. Simplicity is key: keeping your online course simple where you focus on particular strategies will be a more rewarding experience for you and your students.
Focus on your learners, what will help them, and that will help you through all this.
Participant comment:
empathy; simplicity; learn one new skill per semester.
How much is too much in terms of introducing students to new tools?
That can be hard to gauge sometimes. Stay in contact with your students and if you think they’re getting overwhelmed by the approaches you’re taking, revisit your plans and see where you can revise them.
What is your opinion of MS TEAMS as a basic conduit?
Collaboration apps like MS TEAMS have one distinct advantage over Learning Management Systems like Brightspace or Blackboard: they create virtual collaboration spaces that go beyond a discussion forum, and I think that’s a fantastic feature. So I can see collaboration apps playing a big role in fostering engagement.
There are also other kinds apps that foster engagement, such as wikis (Notion is very good, as is Milanote), Google Docs, Office 365 (especially OneNote), etc.
Sorry if this is not the best time to ask this question, but is Dr. Skidmore is going to have a session on pros and cons of synchronous teaching for language learning in the future?
Thanks for the suggestion. We’ll see if it’s possible to set up such a session. If we do, we’ll alert people through our usual channels (Twitter, UW announcements, etc.).
Are you running any more sessions soon?
None are presently in the works, but we have put up a lot of the materials from our other webinars in addition to creating a website that discusses some of the key issues in shifting to online teaching. Check out these links:
Other comments from webinar participants:
In one of my courses, the students are assigned a bimonthly post. They have to post an article that reflects the course topic, but is found in their realm. So the things they read/watch, their own fields. They have to write a summary, explain why they posted it, and pose a question. They also have to respond to 3 other posts with questions. My students are posting WAY more than 3 comments. They are super chatty, posting a week in advance. A couple have said they are learning so much from each other, and love the boards. I am surprised how successful it has been. I also post and comment and reference their posts (by name) in my weekly video announcement.
Each semester at the end of Week 6 (both on-campus and online), I open a brief Feedback Survey. It is about 4-5 questions regarding Strengths (fill in blank), Weaknesses (fill in blank), Approaching the Instructor (short answer) and General comments (short answer). This gives me feedback about the current offering as well as areas for improving future offerings. - Peter
One thing that I found helpful to foster engagement was to ask my students in a discussion forum "Have you seen other instructors in other courses do things that you thought were particularly helpful."
I like tagging different types of discussion posts (e.g. #understand or #apply or #create).
Thanks for the example of offering flexibility in what assignment(s) a student might do.
I think online expectation setting and weekly routine setting is important - much more so than f2f.
The issue of engagement is a critical issue as a result of the current situation with the pandemic. Relationships and building community need to become a high priority. There is a sense of social and emotional alienation that we need to be extremely sensitive to.
Smaller groups do work much better. We've replaced tutorials with ½-hour virtual groups. Students have to sign in for their preferred time at the beginning of term. If they cannot join a group, they receive an alternate assignment.