Analysing the impact of e-learning technology on students’ engagement, attendance and performance

Raj Kapur Shah,Linda Anne Barkas

doi:10.25304/rlt.v26.2070

Abstract

In higher education, e-learning technology, such as Blackboard (Bb) is widely used and has become a popular worldwide tool. It helps reduce the communication gap between students and tutors, without time and location constraints. The study of student engagement and the impact on performance is a key issue in higher educational research, so identifying how students use e-learning technology can help contribute to how to design e-learning materials that further support student engagement. The quantitative research study examined two undergraduate engineering modules. Utilising the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS) the number of clicks students made on Bb was assessed against their classroom attendance, engagement with activities and their performance in the final grade in the module assessment. The outcomes contribute to the developing literature on students’ interaction with online learning, by providing an insight into the way students’ use of e-learning materials influences their performance in their studies

Highlights

This article presents the findings of an initial study that was undertaken to examine how the use of Blackboard (Bb) could identify the extent to which students utilised online materials in their engineering courses
Results from data analysis Student engagement and performance at Level 4 The results of the data analysis are presented in the tables and graphs
It was recognised that student performance had a positive correlation with student engagement from the aspect of Bb hits at both Levels 4 and 6, but the types and the levels of correlation were different at both levels

Summary

Introduction

This article presents the findings of an initial study that was undertaken to examine how the use of Blackboard (Bb) could identify the extent to which students utilised online materials in their engineering courses. The study was undertaken to explore if regular links to the online resources were related to their attendance and supported their engagement with their studies. The findings contribute to the literature on how the development of Web-based technologies can enhance students’ performance in higher education

Results

Discussion

Conclusion