Case Study: Exploring Effective Redesign Techniques to Combat Student Engagement Challenges in Asynchronous Course Design

Abstract

In asynchronous online courses, student engagement (or lack thereof) is a particularly crucial feature in a student’s learning and comprehension of educational materials and ability to apply the frameworks, theories, and tools of a profession or area of study. Theoretically, the more students engage with a course, the more equipped they will be to succeed in said course. This paper will focus on the authors’ efforts to initially engage students in one undergraduate legal pipeline course, and the substantive revisions made based on user data that showed low engagement. Data from two versions of an Introduction to Law course were collected and analyzed with a particular focus on increasing student engagement. The authors examined the following research questions: 1) What elements of version one of the course had low student engagement as measured by student behavior captured in the learning management system (LMS) and other technology tools? 2) Did revisions to the elements identified improve student engagement in version two of the course? Based on the preliminary findings, the user data show that revisions to two key components of the course increased student engagement.

Keywords: student engagement, asynchronous, online, distance learning, assessment, educational technology, LMS, learning management system