Unravelling the relationship between student engagement and learning outcomes in emergency online learning: a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative results

ABSTRACT

Adopting a mixed methods approach, this study examined the relationships between undergraduate students' motivation, engagement and learning outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online questionnaire survey was administered to collect quantitative and qualitative data. A sample of 10,060 undergraduates from 23 universities in China participated in the survey. The results of quantitative analyses largely confirmed the hypothesised relationships between students' motivation, engagement and the two learning outcome indicators (i.e. mastery of generic skills and overall satisfaction). The qualitative analyses not only supported the quantitative findings, but also identified four types of learning outcomes of online learning emerging from the data. The results indicated that emergent online learning had a favourable influence on students' learning strategies, but had mixed or negative effects on their learning effectiveness, attitudes and emotions. The qualitative results revealed eight major factors that facilitated or hindered students' engagement in online learning during the pandemic. These findings contribute to the conceptualisation and measurement of student engagement in online learning, and emphasise the need to conduct mixed methods research in different learning contexts. The implications for improving online learning and teaching in higher education are discussed. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)