Engage Me: What Online Students Tell Us about Best Practices

As I mentioned in last week’s post “Communication Issues,” students are often astute in identifying the “best practices” in our teaching. Their observations provide salient evidence that faculty are frequently the lynchpins that connect students not merely to an individual class but also to the institution itself, to the broader academic community, to choices in career and professional contribution, and sometimes to a passion for a life of the mind.  The best practices that define faculty excellence in the classroom are also, in many ways, the same best practices that transform an online classroom.

From our Spring 2010 student survey, conducted by the Center for Distance Learning and the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, we can identify certain recurring themes in students who rate their online experience as “excellent.” Once again, communication plays a significant role in students’ reactions.

Those online experiences identified as "excellent" or "superior" share a powerful, common thread of interaction and engagement: 

• The instructor communicated course expectations in a well-organized and accessible manner.
• The instructor defined his or her learning objectives clearly.
• The instructor presented effective, useful, and comprehensible course materials, handouts, and assignments.
• The instructor was responsive to students’ questions and need for clarification.
• The instructor engaged with the students directly and was an active presence in the class through regular announcements and participation in discussion board forums.
• The instructor provided written and detailed feedback on individual student efforts that was timely and clear, and that helped students understand areas of weakness in their learning and also provided guidance on how to improve.

As evident in students' comments, student engagement is a reciprocal product of faculty engagement. Instructors who are actively present and responsive in an online class are more likely to retain students in their course and assist students in meeting learning objectives. 

The comments in our survey are not dissimilar from the feedback that students often provide about classroom instruction:  classes taught by instructors who engage students directly, whether by questions, active class discussion, or hands-on activities, are recognized by learners as having the greatest impact on their academic development.  Similarly, in the online class, students recognize the clear value of instructors who communicate effectively and challenge students to become active learners.

--Ghazala Hashmi

Professor of English & QEP Coordinator