Factors Influencing Engagement of University Students in Online Learning

This study aims to investigate the factors influencing student engagement in online learning at offline universities, the perceptions of students regarding fundamental factors (e.g. the organization of a PPT, the statements of instructors, or the presence types of instructors), and the factors for interactions between students and instructors. The participants were seventeen students from two classes taught by the author.
Data collection was performed with eight open-ended questions via e-mail, and the answers were then qualitatively analyzed. According to the results, ‘time flexibility’ was revealed as the most important factor in encouraging students to engage in online learning. Contradictorily, it was also revealed to be the factor that most demotivated students in online learning engagement. In addition, students highlighted ‘famous sayings’ stated by the instructor, followed by ‘creating rapport with the students’ as important factors. In regard to the organization of PPTs and the presence types of instructors on screen, the results revealed that these factors were also related to the student engagement. Finally, a ‘group chatting room’ was determined to be the preferred medium for interaction between students and instructors. This current study has two limitations: a small sample size and an unbalanced ratio of male and female participants. However, the results may still prove helpful to instructors in online course management. In particular, this study highlighted factors important to increasing engagement of students at offline universities.