Technology-enhanced interactive engagement

The aim of this dissertation is to contribute to knowledge about the effectiveness of Technology-enhanced interactive engagement (TEIE) methods, in which higher education students are motivated to interactively engage with lecturers as well as their peers inside and outside the classroom. Students are also encouraged and supported to think critically in constructing their own understanding of the content in order learn, and ultimately improve their academic performance.

The basic notion underlying this study is that interactive engagement methods and technology, mediated by motivation, have positive effects on learning and academic performance. To test this notion, four models were proposed and tested in different chapters.

Overall, 873 students participated in this study; data were collected through class tests designed by participating lecturers and through previously developed questionnaires adopted from various researchers. The research evidence in this study indicates that TEIE methods mediated by motivation improve students’ learning and academic performance. 

However, there are other variables such as time on task and help seeking among others that strengthen this influence. Specifically, the study depicts peer learning as one of the main mediators of TEIE on deep learning and academic performance. Deep learning also played an important role by mediating most of the variables in the study on academic performance.

In conclusion, this dissertation contributes to literature on TEIE methods by exploring both the indirect and interaction effects of different variables on learning and academic performance. Though, the current study could be expanded further through a mixed-method research in which students could express their opinion about situations difficult to explain quantitatively.

Dissertation: http://irs.ub.rug.nl/ppn/391203304