A Framework for Student Engagement: Strategies for Faculty Teaching Online

Introduction

Student engagement strategies and technology are a necessity for personalizing master courses and engaging students. When teaching online, many instructors are provided with a master course which contains the learning materials, discussion forums, assignments, and assessments. With more higher education institutions opting to offer master course shells, it can be difficult for instructors to know how to incorporate their personality, experiences, and insights into a pre-designed course. Faculty who teach online may be searching for ideas on how to personalize their master course and increase student engagement. Many faculty express concerns about students who are disconnected. Personalization of master courses increases student engagement while allowing students and instructors to feel more connected during the course. From personalized weekly announcements, individualized feedback and check-ins, to dialogue creation in discussion forums, and audio feedback, there are a variety of ways an instructor can incorporate strategies that increase engagement and add personality to the course.

In this chapter, the authors explore strategies to increase student engagement and provide a framework to implement these strategies that assist online instructors in demonstrating their personalities and expertise in master courses. Strategies can be separated into three components, engaging with the instructor, with peers and with course content.