No abstract

The concept of online learning has witnessed an increase in the higher education sector, where enrolment rates in online courses have significantly grown in recent years. According to the literature, one of the critical components of quality online education is to ensure learner engagement. In short, the need to effectively measure learner engagement is imperative to determine the performances and the successful achievements of learners. In this research, the aim was to understand the relationship between students’ engagement in an online module with their overall performances by analysing students’ learning activities in an online module. Three measurable indicators were identified and considered relevant within the current research context and based on the available data, and from research literature for assessing learner engagement within the module. These were (i) the number of completed learning activities; (ii) importance level (as per course outcomes) of completed learning activities; and (iii) activities requiring platform presence. It was found that there is a significant but weak positive correlation between the engagement of students in the online module and their performances in the final learning activity. It was further observed that when continuous learning activities were considered, there was a very strong positive correlation between engagement and performances. In general, the average engagement level of students was significantly higher for good performers as compared to low performers. Similarly the mean performance of highly engaged students was significantly better than those with low engagement levels.

PurposeThe University of Mauritius (UoM) established as a traditional face-to-face university has been engaged in distance education since 1993 and in e-learning since 2001 to establish itself as a dual-mode institution. In a context where it has engaged itself to promote its internationalization of online courses and a digital learning transformation process, there is a need to assess and evaluate its current e-learning capability to identify areas of good practices and opportunities for improvement to ensure a high quality of e-learning provisions. The paper reports the results of an assessment of the e-learning capability and the related quality assurance processes of the University of the Mauritius using the e-learning Maturity Model (eMM). Quality assurance in higher education is still a key issue, especially with the ever-growing influence of technology and the disruption that the Internet has caused with respect to e-learning and distance education provisions. No university in Mauritius has ever engaged in such an assessment of their e-learning capabilities.Design/methodology/approachThe EMM and the Open Learning Consortium Quality Scorecard Suite were found to be the most complete models in terms of available documentation and description of how to carry out the evaluation with respect to each process area as compared to the other models described in the literature review section. The EMM was, however, chosen as the model to be used for the UoM, given that there already exists a body of knowledge about its applications in different universities that operate in similar contexts. The researcher is at the heart of the process in the role of an ‘eLearning quality auditor’. Therefore, the research used mainly desk studies, and analysis of annual reports as well as a consultative approach with key stakeholders based on a consensus model to reach a rating for each element in the EMMv2.3 instrument. The rating is based on evidence that is available and verifiable through desk research and documentation.FindingsWe found out that the main strengths of the university were in the learning process areas mainly because of the need to follow existing quality assurance procedures in place at different phases of a course of life cycle, irrespective of the course modality. On the other hand, across all process areas, the university fared well in the delivery dimension, and this finding is consistent with other universities that were assessed using the EMM. However, it was found that the EMM in current form was more adapted for the assessment of universities operating fully as open or virtual universities rather than those operating as dual-mode institutions or as traditional universities promoting technology-enabled learning. The weakest link was the optimization dimension across all process areas, and the process area that needs more attention for improvement was the evaluation process area. Overall, the university can reasonably be pitched at level two (Repeatable) of the capability maturity model scale used for information systems maturity assessment, but operating towards level three (Defined).Originality/valueThe work presented here has never been carried out for any university in Mauritius, and there have been no reported evaluations or applications within the African region. It allows the university to benchmark and compare its standing with respect to other universities operating as dual-mode institutions and as a reference for other universities in Mauritius as well.

There has been much debate on the issue of whether online learning was better than traditional education and vice-versa over the past decade. Over time, the concept of blended learning became quite the norm, especially within traditional universities who could no longer turn a blind eye to the educational revolution brought about by information and communication technologies. While the pace of technology integration in universities generally varies in pace, the world has recently experienced a massive uptake, albeit in an unplanned and mostly disorganized manner, of e-learning technologies due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Researchers have emphasized on the quality of online courses from a perspective of learner achievement in terms of student satisfaction, engagement and performances. In this paper, we analyze student feedback and report the findings of a study of the relationships between student satisfaction and their engagement in an online course with their overall performances. The module was offered online to 844 university students in the first year across different disciplines, namely Engineering, Science, Humanities, Management and Agriculture. It was assessed mainly through continuous assessments and was designed using a learning-by-doing pedagogical approach. The focus was on the acquisition of new skills and competencies, and their application in authentic mini-projects throughout the module. Student feedback was coded and analyzed both from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. The association between satisfaction and engagement was significant and positively correlated. On the other hand, there was a weak but positive and significant correlation between satisfaction or engagement with their overall performances. We further observed that students were generally very satisfied with the learning design philosophy, irrespective of their performance levels. Students, however, reported issues related to lack of tutor support and experiencing technical difficulties across groups. The findings raise important implications for institutional e-learning policy making. The factors that are important relate to the object of such policies, learning design models, personalized support, distributed virtual learning through synchronous interaction, and learning analytics.