Assessing Students’ Perceived Engagement and Perceived Performance for E-Learning in East Coast Malaysia: A Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling Approach

Abstract

Perceived engagement is defined as the extensive use of learning management system services, features, and capabilities. In the wake of the Coronavirus disease 2019, studies show that there is an increase in user engagement level toward the learning management systems, especially among tertiary education. Perceived engagement extends the previous concept of information system usage by incorporating several dimensions: cognitive, affective, and behavioral perspectives. However, most of the research articles on user engagement are focusing on the level of the engagement, with the scarcity of research on its impacts. Thus, the aim of this study is twofold: first, to revisit and determine the level of user engagement with the learning management system. Second, to determine the relationship between the perceived engagement and perceived performance. To find the answer for the purpose of the study, a quantitative research methodology was adopted using convenience sampling. The instrument was developed by adapting and adopting previous research instruments. The instrument was expert reviewed and a pilot test was performed before the actual data collection. Data collection took two weeks involving students in one of the public universities in Malaysia. A total of 206 valid responses were received. The data were analyzed using statistical package for social sciences version 26 for descriptive analysis and SmartPLS version 3.3.3 for inferential analysis. Findings show that the current level of user engagement in using learning management system is moderate; perceived engagement has a predictive power on perceived performance; perceived engagement has a large effect size on perceived performance; and there is a moderate level of perceived performance among respondents.