Factor structures associated with online student engagement in campus-based blended and online distance education settings

Abstract

This research is strictly grounded in the work undertaken by Coates regarding traditional campus-based settings of student engagement and was applied to the online settings positioned within the domain settings of blended online learning design and practice in an Australian higher education business context. Utilising an online student survey instrument, across two consecutive academic years, undergraduate commerce students were invited to reflect upon their learning engagement experience through the lens of a common learning management system (LMS) a resource accessible to both campus-based and off-campus student cohorts. Subsequent analysis of the research reconfirms the existence of student engagement constructs of Coates in the blended online setting, but also unexpectedly revealed a previously unknown construct relating to Assessment. This new student engagement construct, Assessment, is identified as being a significant motivational factor relevant to student engagement in the context of the blended online learning environment of this higher education business undergraduate commerce course and is the focus of this exposition.