Online engagement

Online Engagement

Low levels of online engagement by students have been found to negatively impact on student success and the quality of the student experience. Students entering regional universities are also often unfamiliar with the expectations of universities and/or are unclear about connections between real-world experience and theoretical knowledge. If we engage students early, ensure they meet and comply with the expectations of university study and understand the relevance of what they are learning to their careers, then we expect retention and student satisfaction to increase. This USQ multidisciplinary team lead by Professor Petrea Redmond, who collaborates with Australian colleagues from LCIMelbourne, University of Newcastle, and International colleagues from the Gardner Institute, Kennesaw State University, Arizona State University, University of Nottingham, and University of Birmingham.

The online engagement research topics include:

Online engagement framework
Nudging
Praxis videos
Student perspectives of online engagement
Pivoting to online teaching and learning
Enhancing student engagement through innovative and human-centred pedagogies
AI and discussion forums

Research Team

Selected Research Publications

Brown, A., Lawrence, J., Axelsen, M., Redmond, P., Turner, J., Maloney, S., & Galligan, L. (2024). The effectiveness of nudging key learning resources to support online engagement in higher education courses. Distance Education, 45(1), 83-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/01587919.2024.2303491.

Geyenet, S., Cantle, R., Redmond, P., & Albion, P. (February 14, 2024). Study Shows Positive Tech Attitudes Boost Online Learning Success. Psychreg. https://www.psychreg.org/study-shows-positive-tech-attitudes-boost-online-learning-success/

Getenet, S., Haeusler, C., Redmond, P., Cantle, R., & Crouch, V. (2024). First-year Preservice Teachers’ Understanding of Digital Technologies and their Digital Literacy, Efficacy, Attitude, and Online Learning Engagement: Implication for Course Design. Technology Knowledge and Learning. Advanced online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10758-023-09724-z

Brown, A., Lawrence, J., Redmond, P., Cohen, J., Foote, S.M., & Stone, C. (2023). HERDSA Guide: Enhancing Online Engagement in Higher Education. HERDSA. https://www.herdsa.org.au/publications/guides/enhancing-online-engagement-higher-education

Redmond, P., Alexsen, M., Maloney, S., Turner, J., Brown, A., Basson, M., Gallison, L., Lawrence, J., & Henderson, R. (2023). Student perceptions of online engagement. Online Learning, 27(1), 383-403. doi: https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v27i1.3320

Brown, A., Lawrence, J., Foote, S., Cohen, J., Redmond, P., Stone, C., Kimber, M., Henderson, R. (2023). Educators’ experiences of pivoting online: unearthing key learnings and insights for engaging students online. Higher Education Research & Development, 1-15 https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2022.2157798.

Redmond, P., Foote, S., Brown, A., Mixson-Brookshire, D., Abawi, L., & Henderson, R. (2022). Adopting a framework to support the process of critical reflection and understanding of online engagement. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 34, 109–131, https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12528-021-09281-3.pdf

Brown, A., Lawrence, J., Basson, M., & Redmond, P. (2020). A conceptual framework to enhance student online learning and engagement in higher education. Higher Education Research & Development, 41(2), 284-299. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2020.1860912

Lawrence, J., Brown, A., Redmond, P., & Basson, M. (2019). Engaging the disengaged: Exploring the use of course-specific learning analytics and nudging to enhance online student engagement. Student Success, 10(2), 47-58. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v10i2.1295

Redmond, P., Heffernan, A., Abawi, L., Brown, A. & Henderson, R. (2018) An online engagement framework for higher education. Online Learning Journal, 22(1), 183-204. https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v22i1.1175

Scholarly Publications and Presentations

Cohen, J., Brown, A., Redmond, P. (December 7, 2022). Five key elements that drive student online engagement. Times Higher Education, https://www.timeshighereducation.com/campus/five-key-elements-drive-student-online-engagement

Redmond, P., Brown, A., Lawrence, J., Galligan, L, Maloney, S., Basson, M., Turner, J., & Alexsen, M. (2021, 12 October). Online Success. Presentation for the ALT committee (Online).

Cohen, J., Brown, A., Lawrence, J., Foote, S., & Redmond, P. (2021, 14-15 April). An online engagement framework to support pivoting to online teaching during crisis. Paper presented at the Flexible Learning Association of New Zealand Conference (FLANZ), Wellington, New Zealand (Online).

Brown, A., Redmond, P., Cohen, J., Lawrence, J., & Foote, S. (2021, 6-10 September). Demands, expectations and realities of pivoting to online teaching during a crisis: Academics insights on employing an online engagement framework in higher education. Paper presented at the ECER Conference, Geneva (Online).

Galligan, L., et al. (2020). Increasing engagement in online learning. Proceedings of The Australian Conference on Science and Mathematics Education, 30 September – 2 October 2020. University of Western Australia and Murdoch University, Australia..

Redmond, P., Galligan, L., Turner, J., Malony, S., & Alexsen, M. (2018, December). Understanding engagement from the perspective of higher education students. Paper Presented at the Australian Association for Research in Education conference, Sydney, Australia.