Design of a microlevel student engagement data capture system

Abstract

Student engagement is a known contributor to student success. In the ever increasing channels for online learning, both engagement and success has been seen to struggle particularly in the STEM subject areas where dropouts are high and grades are lower. Student engagement has been known to be measured in lengthy questionnaires at the end of a semester, whereas we propose and design a microlevel approach to timely capture student engagement that adds the cognitive and emotional dimensions to the more widely used behavioural engagement data. In this paper we present a data capture design we have carried out to re-design the conventional method of retrospective and lengthy engagement questionnaires into a more dynamic, timely method that uses micro-surveys at strategic points in a virtual learning environment using a newly developed data capture module. We discuss our findings based on a pilot study carried out at Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.