Investigation of learning resource requirement to improve student engagement and satisfaction

CONTEXT: Student attrition is a significant concern, especially for regional universities. In analysing attrition rates, data indicates that distance students particularly have the highest levels of attrition. Some researchers have identified that student satisfaction and engagement are two key elements for retention (Tinto 1997; Carini et al., 2006). The causes of attrition can be broadly categorised into two main influencing factors: individual reasons and factors contributed by the university. This paper will explore the suitability of learning material s in an engineering unit of study in order to identify whether the new learning resources are required to better suit the different learning style s of that student cohort and, in turn, assist with improved retention. PURPOSE: The purpose of this project is to evaluate a suite of learning resources in order to identify student requirements and address those need to improve student satisfaction and contributes to deeper learning of the engineering concepts being taught and increased retention. This paper primarily focuses on identifying student learning resource requirements. APPROACH: The main focus is the improvement and enhancement of learning materials to create a more interactive and stimulating environment for online students to engage and participate in learning. Learning resources improvement need will be identified to create interactive materials to improve the quality of learning resources in order to support multimodal learning and promote self-paced learning. The new learning resources will augment past learning materials. Students have been invited to participate in a pre-term survey that will identify the types of learning resources they prefer as the learner. At the end of the term, students will participate voluntarily in an online survey and a semi-structured interview to express their views on how the learning resources supported the student’s learning. RESULTS: The analysis of student learning resource needs and addressing them will enhance student learning and contribute to higher levels of engagement with the unit content. Furthermore, we are optimistic that student satisfaction will be higher thus leading to improved pass rate s and higher levels of retention in the unit. CONCLUSIONS: Proper understanding of learning resource requirements and embracing student’s diverse learning needs, it is anticipated that not only will student satisfaction and their learning experiences be improved, but longer term effects such as retention and deeper knowledge acquisition will result in quality professionals entering the field of engineering