Behavioral Engagement Shifts Among At-Risk High School Students Enrolled in Online Courses

Abstract

Academic behaviors such as attendance are highly associated with academic outcomes. High schools are also increasingly turning to online courses to educate their most marginalized students. In this study, I explored the extent to which enrollment in an online course improved engagement and allowed students to make course progress online outside the traditional school day by examining within-student changes in academic behaviors. Students completed their online course in fewer class periods than required to complete a comparable course in a traditional, face-to-face instructional setting. At the same time, students attended, on average, three additional days of school when enrolled in an online course as when enrolled in solely face-to-face courses, indicating a potentially positive spillover effect. Results have implications for practitioners and policy makers interested in online learning and understanding what programs might be most effective in reengaging students at risk of course failure or dropping out of high school.

Effects of regulatory focus on online learning engagement of high school students: The mediating role of self‐efficacy and academic emotions

“…To better understand the factors that influence high school students' engagement in online learning, researchers have conducted a series of studies. Some studies have shown that in an online learning environments, high school students' behaviour is a prerequisite for learning engagement (Darling-Aduana, 2019). However, a recent study found that high school students' cognitive and emotional engagement in online learning is suppressed by the lack of emotion, equipment, and resources in the online learning environment, and by ineffective online learning experiences (Chiu, 2021b).…”

How Personality Traits Are Related to the Attitudes Toward Forced Remote Learning During COVID-19: Predictive Analysis Using Generalized Additive Modeling

“…At the same time, another body of work showed that online learning helped highly motivated students with high intellectual abilities to expand their knowledge when online learning was used in addition to traditional methods (Heppen et al, 2017). Those students who learned using a blended approach, in which online resources complement, but do not replace, traditional education, showed almost the same high results as those who learned in a traditional format (Escueta et al, 2017;Darling-Aduana, 2019).…”

Learning-Mode Choice, Student Engagement, and Achievement Growth During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…These findings suggest that virtual learning as implemented during the fall of 2020 in the district studied might be most viable as an alternative learning mode for students identified as female and/or belonging to historically advantaged groups. In turn, this might allow for spillover benefits for students who remain in a more comprehensive, traditional, face-to-face instructional environment (Darling-Aduana, 2019; Hart et al, 2019). Further, continuing to offer virtual learning where feasible might be a helpful option to provide students likely to benefit from anytime, anywhere access (i.e., students who possess sufficient self-regulation skills and/or out-of-school resources to monitor their own engagement), so long as schools are able to also implement fidelity and quality-control measures to accurately measure and foster engagement (Darling-Aduana, 2019).…”

“…George et al, 2021). Additionally, continuing virtual-learning options for some students might result in spillover benefits for students who remain in face-to-face classrooms (Darling-Aduana, 2019; Hart et al, 2019). As virtual learning is likely to play an increased role in students’ educational experiences in coming school years, continued study is merited to identify how to most effectively leverage virtual learning to achieve the goals of enhancing the educational experiences of all students, with an eye toward minimizing existing educational opportunity gaps.…”