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This literature review focuses on the impact of using data to further engage students in their learning efforts. This topic is vital given that student engagement can be viewed as an indicator of teaching success. When students are engaged in their learning, they are motivated toward goal completion and are attentive, curious, and interested in their class sessions and activities. The term student engagement is prominent in institutions of higher education. Researchers have defined student engagement as participation in education practices within and outside the classroom (Kuh et al., 2007), the extent of student participation in activities aligned with learning outcomes (Krause & Coates, 2008), and students’ efforts directed to desired learning goals (Hu & Kuh, 2003). Student engagement has been found to be positively related to academic achievement (Casuso-Holgado, 2013; Chen & Chiu, 2016; Schnitzler et al., 2020). Barkley and Major (2020) stated that student engagement is a factor of effective teaching. However, in today’s classroom settings, educators often have a difficult task of determining how to maintain student engagement. Indeed, Christopoulos et al. (2018) claimed that educators are often faced with the challenge of engaging learners with course learning materials. Ineffective instructional approaches can be detrimental to student success and persistence in their educational pursuits. As a result, the concept of student engagement has been at the forefront of policymakers, government officials, and educational leaders’ concerns in how to situate student success in higher education (Kahu & Nelson, 2018).
Today’s learners are completing their coursework through a variety of formats that include both traditional brick and mortar and virtual learning platforms. Regardless of the educational environment, educators are tasked with ensuring that students receive access to high quality instruction. Holmes (2018) postulated that high levels of student engagement can occur in all learning modalities including online, blended, and face-to-face. Further, Nasir et al. (2020) shared that researchers have discovered that students in diverse learning contexts have performed similarly and that students have reported comparable feelings of course satisfaction. Moreover, Nasir et al. (2020) conveyed that regardless of classroom structure student engagement data can share vital information concerning instructor effectiveness. Recently more emphasis has been placed on how to efficiently use student data to enhance students’ levels of learning engagement. For example, Jones (2020) proposed using metrics that capture student progress in order to develop retention strategies and identify areas of student success. Student retention is considered a global issue and has become the focus of many institutions of higher education (Far-Wharton et al., 2018). Far-Wharton et al. (2018) indicated that in the last decade universities have centered on student inadequacies that result in lower engagement and attrition or institutional strategies geared toward enhancing engagement and increasing retention rates. However, “fostering student engagement is a critical challenge for instructors regardless of their disciplinary focus” (Alvarez-Bell et al., 2017).