Students’ sociocultural perspectives in online EFL learning in Indonesia

High attrition/dropout rates and low engagement have been major concerns of online educators. This study examined female high school students' cognitive engagement and disengagement in an online learning context during the COVID‐19 pandemic through the lens of self‐determination theory's basic psychological needs. We investigated an extended dual‐process motivation mediation model that emphasizes the mediating role of the need for competence, including an additional factor, technology self‐efficacy, in a South Korean high school context ( n = 235). Results from structural equation modelling provided evidence for the proposed model. Our findings indicated that the exogenous variables (ie, perceived autonomy support, perceived teacher control and technology self‐efficacy) predicted cognitive engagement and disengagement with the mediating role of competence need satisfaction and competence need frustration. We found distinct processes including (a) “autonomy support‐competence need satisfaction‐cognitive engagement”, (b) “teacher control‐competence need frustration‐cognitive disengagement”, (c) “technology self‐efficacy‐competence need satisfaction‐cognitive engagement” and (d) “technology self‐efficacy‐competence need frustration (negative effect)‐cognitive disengagement”. This study suggests using autonomy support strategies to fulfil students' competence needs in online learning contexts. We also found a possible role of technology self‐efficacy in influencing psychological competence needs, cognitive engagement and cognitive disengagement in online learning contexts. Implications of the findings are discussed. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic High attrition/dropout rates and low engagement have been major concerns of online educators. Emergency remote teaching (ERT) has implications for online teaching beyond the ERT paradigm. Self‐determination theory (SDT) has been adopted and adapted with the goal of determining how to achieve need satisfaction, optimize learner motivation and enhance student engagement in classroom settings. What this paper adds This study applied a dual‐process motivation mediation model to investigate both cognitive engagement and disengagement among female high school students in an ERT online learning environment. The extended dual‐process motivation mediation model examined the role of an additional factor, technology self‐efficacy in cognitive engagement and disengagement in online learning. This study examined the role of direct, indirect and cross‐over effects focusing on both bright and dark aspects of the dual‐process motivation mediation model in online learning in a South Korean girls' high school during ERT. Implications for practice and/or policy This study proposes the use of autonomy support strategies in online learning contexts. Teachers should understand their students and provide support that addresses competence need satisfaction to enhance student cognitive engagement in online learning contexts. More efforts should be made to prepare teachers for designing online learning experiences that increase students' competence need satisfaction and decrease competence need frustration.

This study pursued two objectives: (1) to test the moderating role of perceived teacher enthusiasm in the relationship between L2 students’ task value belief and engagement in online learning; and (2) to test this moderation using the latent moderated structural equation modeling (LMS) approach. The first objective was motivated by the rapid expansion of online language education programs, particularly since the COVID‐19 pandemic, and the growing concern about how to foster L2 student engagement in this environment. The second objective stemmed from the need for a more robust methodological alternative to the regression‐based approach to testing moderation effect commonly used in the second language research literature. Data were collected from 317 Vietnamese EFL learners enrolled in an online undergraduate English for specific program at a university in Vietnam. Using a four‐step procedure for testing the latent moderation effect, we found that perceived teacher enthusiasm neither predicted L2 student engagement nor strengthened the positive effect of task value belief. Instead, low levels of perceived teacher enthusiasm reversed the positive effect of task value on L2 engagement, suggesting that even if L2 students highly value online learning content, their engagement still declines if they perceive teachers as unenthusiastic. The findings are discussed in relation to existing literature on teacher enthusiasm and L2 student engagement in online learning. Practical implications are also provided for designing online learning environments that are more conducive to L2 student engagement.

This paper aims to identify challenges to students’ engagement in online learning at the Qatar branch campus of America’s Georgetown University, and to propose solutions. Specifically, it: 1) identifies challenges and solutions from students’ perspectives; 2) provides recommendations for developing instructional policies to maximise student engagement in synchronous learning contexts; and 3) aims to contribute to the literature on the engagement of Arabic as a Foreign Language (AFL) learners and Arabic Heritage Learners (AHLs) in online learning in higher education (HE) in the Middle East. It did so by collecting qualitative data, using an open-ended questionnaire from 13 Arabic as a Foreign Language and Arab Heritage learners. We investigate these learners’ perceptions and experiences of student engagement in online learning within the social presence dimension of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework. In addition to presenting a set of challenges that our students experienced in their online learning, especially under the unprecedented health, social and mental constraints created by Covid-19, we highlight their solutions to these challenges. We conclude by offering a set of recommendations that we hope AFL and Arabic Heritage (AH) programmes and institutions will find useful.Keywords: student engagement; online learning; community of inquiry; social presence; Arabic as a foreign language; Arabic heritage learnersPart of the Special Issue Technology enhanced learning in the MENA region <https://doi.org/10.21428/8c225f6e.1fd869f8>

Adopting a mixed methods approach, this study examined the relationships between undergraduate students’ motivation, engagement and learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire survey was administered to collect quantitative and qualitative data. A sample of 10,060 undergraduates from 23 universities in China participated in the survey. The results of quantitative analyses largely confirmed the hypothesised relationships between students’ motivation, engagement and the two learning outcome indicators (i.e. mastery of generic skills and overall satisfaction). The qualitative analyses not only supported the quantitative findings, but also identified four types of learning outcomes of online learning emerging from the data. The results indicated that emergent online learning had a favourable influence on students’ learning strategies, but had mixed or negative effects on their learning effectiveness, attitudes and emotions. The qualitative results revealed eight major factors that facilitated or hindered students’ engagement in online learning during the pandemic. These findings contribute to the conceptualisation and measurement of student engagement in online learning, and emphasise the need to conduct mixed methods research in different learning contexts. The implications for improving online learning and teaching in higher education are discussed.

With a sample of 4,646 undergraduate students from four universities in China, this study examined the psychometric qualities of a newly-adapted measurement, namely, the Online Motivation and Engagement Scale for university and college students, and investigated the characteristics of and differences in Chinese students’ motivation and engagement in emergent online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results supported the reliability and construct validity of the measurement, and identified four types of learners with distinctive features of student engagement. The research revealed a complex picture with promising and worrying messages about student engagement in emergency online learning during the pandemic. These findings contribute to the conceptualisation and measurement of student engagement in online learning, and provide insights for improving online learning and teaching during and beyond the pandemic.

Gamification becomes an important and widely used instrument in online learning, and it affects users' experience. However, recent research on the interaction between a user and technology, in the online learning platform, tends to study gamification separately. This paper aims to overcome the research gap, exploring the relationships between user engagement, platform affordances, and gamification in online learning. An online survey was conducted among the participants (N=375) studying with Skyeng (commercial online platform for learning English). The data was analysed with factor and regression analysis. The results demonstrated four major platform affordances: technology credibility and usability, adaptability of course tasks, phasing and intermittence and external reward. Among the four, technology credibility and usability was found to be the most influential predictor of user engagement in online learning. External reward, as an affordance, drawn from gamification elements, has the smallest contribution to user engagement. However, the study proves the suitability of perceiving gamified elements as affordances by platform users. The research provides conceptual and empirical grounds for studying gamification elements as one of the affordances in online learning and outlines further directions to explore these connections.

This study addresses and investigates university students’ engagement and perspectives on utilising online learning in Bangladesh. The goal of this study is to pinpoint the variables that affect students' engagement technologically and socially and to understand the level of students' engagement in an online learning environment. This research used the quantitative method. The respondents to this research were undergraduate and postgraduate students from both private and public universities in Bangladesh, located in different locations. The number of respondents was 201. A structured questionnaire obtained via Google Form was used to determine the level of engagement and understanding of using online learning. SPSS was used to analyse the data that had been gathered. Outcome has demonstrated that the technological factor influences students’ engagement, such as the necessity of a device or gadget. Also, social factors like engagement in classes and mental health issues positively influence students’ engagement in online learning. Overall engagement in online classes is low because there is less communication and assistance from classmates, and students' engagement during online learning is influenced by mental health issues. The self-determination theory has been adopted to represent this study’s variables and also to understand students’ engagement in online learning. This research's recommendations, based on the findings, include the necessity for serious measures to support students' psychological wellbeing and their personal and financial concerns, and that more engagement with classmates should be ensured and improved by the academicians and university authority

Factors that affect student engagement in online learning in health professions education

The exploratory case study explored how the lecturers motivate the students to engage in team-based online learning and how technologies in e-learning and remote classrooms motivate student engagement. Engagement is a multidimensional construct that includes behaviour, emotions, and cognition, essential in learning outcomes. Involving 101 undergraduate students, questionnaires and virtual interviews were conducted with the participants to elicit their perceptions and experiences concerning student engagement. Following the Self-Determination Theory framework of Deci and Ryan (1985), this study proved that students’ engagement in the team-based online learning model is based on three perspectives: competence, sense of belonging, and autonomy. The theory highlights the importance of motivation and fulfilment of three basic human needs: autonomy, competence and relatedness. Data was collected through interviews and questionnaires focusing on the perceptions and experiences of undergraduate students who had participated in fully online learning for four semesters. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data divided into categories based on the Self-Determination Theory framework. The findings reveal that students’ engagement in team-based online learning is influenced by their need for competence, belonging, and autonomy. Overall, this research highlights the importance of addressing student engagement in online learning and provides insight into how lecturers and technology can motivate and enhance student engagement in team-based online learning. Lecturers must continually adapt their instructional strategies and leverage technology to maintain and increase student engagement during the online learning experience

Online learning has rapidly grown internationally in Higher Education due to advanced digital technologies and the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it offers flexibility and convenience for students. According to Meyer (2014), student engagement has a positive relationship with student satisfaction, persistence and academic performance, particularly in online learning environments. This pilot study aims to investigate how learning designers perceive students' cognitive engagement in online learning to inform the design and creation of online tasks and activities that foster these behaviours. Eight learning designers from two Australian universities participated in semi-structured interviews. They were asked three sets of questions in relation to students’ cognitive engagement during three types of interactions (Moore, 1989) – learner-to-teacher, learner-to-learner and learner-to-content interactions in online learning. Research indicates that these interactions foster student engagement in online learning environments (Bolliger &amp; Martin, 2018; Kennedy, 2020; Martin &amp; Bolliger, 2018). Thematic analysis (Braun &amp; Clarke, 2012) was used to analyse the semi-structured interview transcripts. The data revealed three principal themes: (1) learning design considerations at the unit design and activity levels, (2) student learning footprints in an LMS and their artefacts, and (3) teachers’ and students’ preparedness prior to and during the units and virtual classes. First, eight design considerations were suggested by learning designers to create effective and engaging online learning environments. These design considerations were broad-ranging and encompassed the type of pedagogical strategies, the learning environment, content structure and concept checks to improve cognitive engagement. Furthermore, most of them tended to believe that interactive and collaborative activities could foster cognitive engagement in online learning. Second, the students’ learning footprint and their artefacts relate to their qualitative or quantitative contribution during the learning process. In this study, the student learning footprint includes the relevance of responses and individual student’s analytics in LMS (e.g., the number of clicks in LMS, the time spent watching videos, etc). It was not decisive which, if any of these, would provide better engagement, but both were suggested by learning designers as indicative of cognitive engagement. Finally, an unexpected descriptor for cognitive engagement, but a reasonably common suggestion from learning designers was that the preparedness of students and teachers was a factor that could impact the cognitive engagement of students. This included whether students had sufficient underpinning knowledge, prior experience of the subject or so much prior knowledge that they disengaged from “too simple” content and concepts. The preparedness of teachers extended to the clarity of instruction, whether they knew the intention of what they were teaching, and whether students were aware of where this was taking them. In future studies, we intend to explore how university teachers and students perceive cognitive engagement while preparing and during online teaching and learning and the correlations between the perceptions of learning designers, teachers and students. We hope the final findings can shape the teaching and learning process in Australian universities to provide an effective and engaging learning experience for students.

Numerous SLA studies have unveiled the effect of perceived teacher support on students’ learning engagement. However, little is known about how motivation mediates the relationship between perceived teacher support and learning engagement in an online learning environment. To address this gap, this study draws on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and two SDT-based models to examine the mediating effects of autonomous motivation and controlled motivation on the relationship between perceived teacher support and online learning engagement. Questionnaires were administered among 504 EFL learners in China. Parallel mediation results revealed that autonomous motivation mediated the relationship between perceived teacher support and online learning engagement, while controlled motivation did not. The study validated SDT and two SDT-based models in a Chinese online EFL setting. Pedagogical implications were proposed to enhance EFL teachers’ support and learners’ engagement in online English classes.

The emergence of COVID-19 has significantly changed the teaching environment of universities resulting in lots of studies on college students' online learning engagement and learning performance. However, few studies have focused on the relationship between learning engagement and college students' physical and mental health. The aim of this study was to explore online learning frequency, learning engagement, mental health and how about the relationship between them, with the method of online questionnaire survey (N=268). The study finds that there is a significant positive correlation between positive affect and learn engagement (emotional engagement, cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement), and a significant negative correlation between negative affect and learn engagement. The study also finds some differences between students from urban and rural areas, that is mental health level of college students in urban areas is generally lower than that in rural areas, and the learning engagement of college students in urban areas are all significantly lower than that in rural areas.

This study explores the interplay between students’ social-emotional competencies (SEC), fear of failure in learning (FOFL), and engagement in online learning. Specifically, this study examines how varying levels of social-emotional competencies (low, moderate, and high) might influence the relationship between fear of failure in learning and engagement in online learning. A total of 245 undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in online courses completed the scales measuring their social-emotional skills, fear of failure in learning, and engagement in online learning. This study found that for students with low SEC, FOFL negatively impacts engagement, suggesting that lower SEC exacerbates FOFL’s adverse effects. For students with moderate SEC, a weak positive correlation emerged, indicating that students with moderate social-emotional skills may perceive FOFL as a manageable challenge, enhancing engagement. In the high SEC group, FOFL showed no significant impact on engagement, suggesting that high SEC acts as a buffer, stabilizing engagement levels regardless of FOFL. Fisher’s z-tests confirmed significant differences in the FOFL-engagement relationship across SEC groups, with a pronounced effect for the low SEC group. These findings underscore the moderating role of SEC, suggesting that fostering social-emotional competencies may mitigate the negative impact of FOFL on engagement in online learning.

There is emerging evidence that suggests emotions as a discrete factor in academic online contexts that significantly contribute to student engagement and higher order learning (Cleveland-Innes &amp; Campbell, 2012; You, 2012, You &amp; Kang, 2014; Zembylas, 2008; Liaw, 2008). Pekrun (2000) and Pekrun, Goetz, Frenzel, Barchfeld, and Perry (2011) developed the control-value theory of achievement emotion that not only showed that emotions represent a discrete category in student engagement, but that there are certain factors such as perceived academic control and self-regulation that function as antecedents of students’ emotional reactions that affect online learning. The aim of the present paper is to review the emerging research evidence of the impact of emotions on students’ engagement in order to understand the distinct role that emotions may play in online learning. The review also proposes strategies and activities that teachers can use in order to enhance students’ positive engagement in online learning. The findings suggest that emotions are significant factors in students’ engagement in online learning while cognitive and behavioural factors function as antecedents of emotions in online contexts. The inclusion of emotional, cognitive and behavioural strategies in online teaching can enhance students’ engagement and learning experience in the online classroom.

Coaching and mentoring has been regarded as one of the key learning techniques in the modern learning environment in the recent past. With the swift shift in the higher education sector to a more digitally driven learning environment, limited research has evaluated the impact of coaching and mentoring on student engagement in online learning. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of coaching and mentoring on enhancing student engagement in the higher education sector. The study applied a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection, where the primary data were collected from 120 respondents via a questionnaire and 20 in-depth interviews, covering undergraduates through a simple random sampling technique. The data analysis showed that the mentor’s ability to facilitate learning and encourage mentees to be focused on their goals were the most significant factors that affected student engagement in online learning. In total, 43% of the respondents extremely agreed that they are willing to recommend their colleagues to receive the service of a mentor to help them reach their optimum potential in an online learning environment. The findings of the study recommend that the higher educational institutes should administer a sound mentoring process that meets the ethical backgrounds to consistently support the continuous improvement of the students in an online learning environment to enhance their engagement in learning activities.