Title: Engagement and Motivation Strategies: Retaining Students in the Online Classroom.
Presenters: Kristina Bodamer & Jennifer Zaur
Date: 11/4/15
TLC Track: High Impact Online Teaching and Learning Practices
Synopsis: This webinar will begin by examining current research related to retention in online learning. After exploring what the research says about the state of retention in online learning, the attributes that support higher levels of retention will be discussed. One such attribute is relating performance to effort, not simply ability. Based on these attributes, strategies to increase engagement and motivation will be discussed. The strategies presented will be research-based, with a strong alignment to the Motivation theoretical framework. For example, helping instructors understand that a learner's self-efficacy may be the lowest at the start of a class and providing them with first week strategies, may help increase student confidence which can increase both motivation and effort. Strategies will be tied in with the College of Education's mission to "Save One," and a rationale of how uniting in this mission will benefit students, will be provided. Each strategy will seek to help instructors immediately put research into practice. All strategies discussed will support instructors with increasing engagement and motivation in their courses, all within their contracted time allotment. Throughout this webinar faculty engagement and interaction will be encouraged through the use of an ice breaker, polls, visuals, concrete examples, and guiding questions. Participants will be able to share out via the chat feature in order to make their learning experience more personalized.