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From the field

Distance Education, Student engagement, Arts-based learning activities, Higher Education, Learning Technologies

Tags

Authors

Beth Perry, Athabasca University, Professorbethp@athabascau.caKatherine J. Janzen, Mount Royal University, Assistant Professorkjjanzen@mtroyal.caMargaret Edwards, Athabasca University, Acting Dean and Professormarge@athabascau.ca

Enhancing Online Student Engagement

Engagement may be a precursor to meaningful interaction among classmates, and be-tween instructors and students. Disengaged students often have limited interaction with course materials. Online educators may need to deliberately incorporate learning activities aimed at increasing student engagement. Arts-based learning activities can foster student social and academic engagement as they assist students and instruc-tors in becoming more “real” to one another in the online learning milieu. Examples of arts-based learning activities that may facilitate student engagement include Photo Cascades, “My” Music Moments, and Word Sculptures.

1. Introduction Student engagement potentially influences student success in online education. Engagement comes in at least two forms – academic engagement and social engagement (Hu & Kuh, 2002). Learners who are engaged academically are motivated to participate unreservedly in educationally-meaningful learning activities and see them through to completion (Brew-ster & Fager, 2000). Socially engaged learners interact with peers and instructors in socially-meaningful ways (Hu & Kuh, 2002). Both social and academic engagement are important to student success (2002).

In online education facilitating student engagement may require purposeful teacher-assisted strategies. In face-to-face learning environments students are situated in the same physical space and social engagement may occur naturally. However when classmates and instructors are separated by distance, interaction and resulting social engagement may require deliber-ate interventions by teachers. Likewise, academic engagement in online learning environ-ments may be stimulated by providing learners with selected learning activities they find motivating.

One limitation of online learning is the lack of a sense of the “real” (Janzen, Perry, & Ed-wards, 2011). In other words, due to geographic separation that is part of online learning students and instructors may experience a sense of isolation (lack of social engagement). Course participants may not sense they know one another in meaningful ways. For some, the experience of online learning may be distilled into sitting in front of a computer screen in solitude. In this classroom of one, course participants may never feel they belong to a larger educational community (Janzen, et al., 2011).

Student engagement, both social and academic, can be influenced by multiple factors in-cluding course design, teaching methods, and nature of learning activities (Pike, Kuh, & Mc-Cormick, 2011). The focus of this paper is on the use art-based learning activities to facilitate engagement in online learning environments. Art-based learning activities are a category of online teaching strategies founded in the arts (Perry & Edwards, 2010). These learning activities may include elements of drama, music, visual art, or the literary (2010). In this pa-per Photo Cascades, “My” Music Moments, and Word Sculptures learning activities are dis-

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cussed and their influence on social and academic engagement described. The discussion section expands of why arts-based learning activities may enhance student engagement by explor-ing how these activities help learners meet their basic psycho-logical and intellectual needs.

2. Learning Activities to Facilitate Student Engagement

2.1 Photo Cascade

The Photo Cascade learning activity is derived from photovoice. Photovoice was first introduced by Wang and Burris (1997) as a modality for participatory action research. Perry (2005) con-ceptualized and developed photovoice as an online teaching strategy to promote social engagement between students, and between students and teachers (Perry & Edwards, 2006). Pho-tovoice uses purposefully selected visual images and affiliated reflective questions as an online teaching strategy and is based in the art of photography (2006).

Photo Cascade is a collection of photographic images focused on a course theme. The first images in the cascade are provided by the course instructor and students are invited to contribute additional related images resulting in a cascade of images. Addi-tionally, the instructor contributes an initial reflective question

to the cascade learning activity and students add questions to further the discussion. The result of this learning activity is a collection of evocative images and reflective questions related to a course theme. The cascade is representative of the various class member perspectives on a theme, including the instructor and students. The questions and images are discussed by the students in an online discussion forum. An example of a starter Photo Cascade is provided in Figure 1. The activity relates to the course theme of ethics.

2.2 “My” Music Moments

Music is a powerful arts-based teaching tool that can be in-cluded in online course learning activities in many ways. In the “My” Music Moments learning activity students are invited to choose a selection of music that appeals to them and that helps them in some way to further their thinking related to a course theme. For example, the lyrics of a particular song may focus on course topics such as death, bereavement, birth, transitions, or dementia to name a few. Students are asked to choose a song related to a course theme that they find personally meaningful and to share that song and a written explanation regarding what the song taught them in a course discussion forum. Websites such as http://www.jamendo.com provide free legally down-loadable music. Students can search the database on this and similar sites using keywords to find their “My” Music Moments selection.

2.3 Word Sculptures

Sculpture as an art-form may seem challeng-ing to incorporate into online teaching and learning. As technology becomes more so-phisticated it may be possible for students to produce virtual sculptures depicting course topics. As not all students may have access to 3-D animation software used to create such sculptured artifacts, a way to incorporable sculpture in online learning activities using tools accessible to all gave rise to the idea of Word Sculptures. Sometimes these Word Sculptures are called “wordles” or “word clouds.” Students use free online software located at http://www.wordle.net/ to sculpt their chosen words related to a course topic in to a word picture that they can share with the class. For example, Figure 2 is a Word

Select the image that helps you define ethics and explain your choice.

Figure 1: Example of Beginning Photo Cascade on the Theme of Ethics

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Sculpture on the course topic of healthy living. Word Sculptures shared in a course discussion forum generate considerable dis-cussion among class members.

3. DiscussionThese arts-based learning activities may enhance student en-gagement because they help online learners meet their basic psychological and intellectual needs. Hu and Kuh concluded that students need a sense of competency, connection with others, autonomy, and the opportunity for originality and self-expression (2007). Learners who achieve these needs are more likely to become socially and academically engaged in the online learning experience.

3.1 Sense of Competency

Students feel competent when they are presented with aca-demic challenges that are demanding but attainable. Learners who participate in, and succeed, at learning activities gradu-ally achieve a sense they are capable and competent regarding

the topic under study. Students are most likely to succeed with learning activities that build on their existing knowledge and that provide them opportunities to apply what they are learn-ing to real-life situations.

In several ways art-based learning activities challenge learners academically. For example, the Photo Cascade activity requires students to have (or acquire) knowledge related to the course theme to which the Photo Cascade is aligned. In order to make, and justify, their image choices and questions related to the Photo Cascade learners need to know key terms and theories related to the course theme. Learners use existing and newly acquired knowledge to participate in the Photo Cascade activity and in doing so their sense of competency grows. Because there are no “right” answers to the Photo Cascade activity, learners who participate will succeed. Again this contributes to their underlying self-confidence regarding the course topic and their sense of competency.

3.2 Connection with Others

Arts-based learning interventions enhance human connec-tions in online classrooms and help participants form a sense of community in their online courses (Perry, Edwards, Menzies, & Janzen, 2011). Establishing trust and respect among class participants is an important precursor to connections (Purkey, 2007). Further, class members need to become acquainted with one another so that connections can be established. Sharing self-created Word Sculptures, personally meaningful music se-lections, and images that represent their perspectives, reveals to their classmates their personal qualities, values, biases, and priorities. These art-based teaching strategies provide an ac-ceptable avenue for self-disclosure that allows familiarity to be enhanced. Class members (including the instructor) get to know one another. As students take risks, participate in challenging activities, expose vulnerabilities and emotions, and find sharing received non-judgementally by class colleagues, the sense of trust and respect is heightened and connections may be made. Further, students reveal their own “stories” though their con-tributions to these learning activities allowing fellow learners to discover shared hobbies, interests, and other commonalities that may help connections to form and strengthen.

3.3 Autonomy

Skinner and Chi (2012) concluded that learners with a sense of autonomy are more academically engaged. Self-determination

Figure 2: Word Sculpture on the Course Topic of Healthy Living

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theory purports that autonomy enhances intrinsic motivation with autonomy defined as the “universal urge to be causal agents of one’s own life” (Deci & Ryan, 2002). A sense of au-tonomy can be facilitated in students by providing them choice. In the learning activities discussed in this paper students can choose to participate or not. Further learners who do partici-pate choose images, music selections, and the words used in their individualized Word Sculptures. These opportunities for choice facilitate a sense of autonomy leading to the potential for academic and social engagement. A positive cycle may be established. (see Figure 3)

3.4 Opportunity for Originality and Self-Expression

The arts provide an avenue for self-understanding and self-expression (Ware, 2011). In some ways though participating in Photo Cascade, “My” Music Moments, and Word Sculptures learners are creating and sharing in the public forum of the class community an autobiographical glimpse into their lives and ways of thinking about the course topics. Students who par-ticipate in these learning activities are sharing part of their per-sonal life story. Each student makes an original contribution to these learning activities as no two images, music selections or

Word Sculptures are likely to be exactly the same. Additionally, students justify their choices to others in the course furthering the originality of their contributions. The opportunity to share one’s unique story enhances learner engagement in the online learning environment (Xu, Park, & Baek, 2011).

4. ConclusionLearning environments affect student learning (Haigh, 2008). Effective online learning environments include learning activi-ties designed to engage learners. There seems to be positive

relationships between learner engagement (so-cial and academic engagement) and meaningful interaction with others within the course and with course materials and resources. As students become more engaged they also interact more often and in more meaningful ways.

Online educators are challenged to include learning activities that help course participants to become “real” to one another in the virtual milieu. Becoming “real” further facilitates en-gagement and interaction. Art-based learning activities described in this paper may contribute to this desired outcome.

Art-based learning activities of Photo Cascade, “My” Music Moments, and Word Sculptures may be effective in enhancing online learner engagement in part because they help students meet their basic psychological and intellectual needs including a sense of competency, connec-tion with others, autonomy, and the opportunity for originality and self-expression (Kuh, 2007). Further research related to possible associations between online learner engagement (social and

academic) and art-based learning activities is required. Social determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002) may provide a useful conceptual framework for these studies.

Figure 3: Choice-Autonomy-Motivation-Engagement Cycle

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