Abstract
Understanding factors that promote student engagement with online learning environments is important for benchmarking and improving the quality of teaching in a digital era. This study aimed to describe the online interactive content created for delivery of an undergraduate nutrition course and to evaluate student engagement with the online interactive content. We collected online questionnaire data in 2018 and 2019 from two cohorts of students enrolled in a Deakin University undergraduate nutrition unit. Two-sample unpaired t-tests were used to examine differences in participant engagement with online topic guides between static text-based and interactive content. A total of 89 participants (19–56 years) were included. Sixty four of students reported always/usually reading static text-based topic guides most weeks and 64% perceived them as moderately/highly effective. While 60% of participants reported reading the online interactive topic guides most weeks and 93% perceived them as moderate/highly effective. Most participants indicated the interactive topic guides were more effective than static text-based topic guides they experienced in other courses (76%). Hours dedicated to the online interactive topic guide were higher (6.4 SD 2.9 vs. 1.7 SD 1.7 h; P < 0.001) as was the rating of how engaging the topic guides were (7.2 SD 1.6 vs. 6.7 SD 2.5; P = 0.008). These findings suggest that interactive content is more engaging. However, this content may not be accessible to all students, and so familiarization and training prior to engaging in an interactive online unit may be needed.
Highlights
High quality online learning environments are needed to navigate the emerging challenges and opportunities of a digital era and the advent of COVID-19 [1]
Most participants indicated that the interactive topic guides were more effective than static text-based topic guides they experienced in other courses (76%)
Hours dedicated to the online interactive topic guide were significantly higher in the interactive topic
Summary
High quality online learning environments are needed to navigate the emerging challenges and opportunities of a digital era and the advent of COVID-19 [1]. There is evidence that students are more engaged when curricula use online interactive content [7, 8]. A paucity of studies has examined engagement with online interactive content in nutrition undergraduate students. In a study in 29 US undergraduate students, formative online assessment was an effective and feasible method to improve student engagement [15]. In a study of 31 UK undergraduate nutrition and dietetics students, students reported that online content was engaging, but they still preferred face-to-face learning [16]. In both studies there was limited reporting of how the online content was designed, or what it included, the optimal design of engaging online learning material is unclear. The learning theories that underpin the design of online learning for students vary, and the evidence is mixed for the optimum balance between interactivity and cognitive load [17, 18]
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