Methods for Fostering Student Engagement in Online Statistics Courses

• Activity Number: 317 - Methods for Fostering Student Engagement in Online Statistics Courses
• Type: Topic Contributed
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 5, 2020 : 10:00 AM to 11:50 AM
• Sponsor: Section on Teaching of Statistics in the Health Sciences
• Author(s): Brandon George* and Ann Brearley* and Michael Jiroutek* and Laura Le* and Suhwon Lee* and Matt Brems*
• Companies: Thomas Jefferson University and University of Minnesota and Campbell University and University of Minnesota and University of Missouri and General Assembly
• Keywords: Pedagogy; Online courses; Education; Student engagement; Flipped course

Abstract

Online statistics education continues to grow as instructors learn how to utilize the technology, students seek the flexibility it offers, and administrators leverage the larger accessible student population. Online education comes in a variety of formats, from a hybrid or flipped classroom that retains in-person meetings, to live but remotely viewed lectures, to fully asynchronous courses. Regardless of the online course format, educators desire to replicate the best aspects of in-person classes in an online setting while seeking to take advantage of the technology for educational opportunities traditional classrooms don’t offer. One of the most notable challenges faced in the online environment is student engagement with the material and interactions with their classmates and the instructor. In this session, panelists will discuss some of their best practices to foster student engagement in an online setting. What is ‘best’ not only varies across student populations, but depends on the online format being utilized as well as resources available to the instructor. The panelists’ experiences provide a diversity across all these dimensions.