Assessing the impact of the combination of self-directed learning, immediate feedback and visualizations on student engagement in online learning

Abstract

This paper introduces OPEL, a novel Online Learning Environment currently used by undergraduate university students to learn SQL programming and database design as part of their degree program. As student engagement in online learning remains a key challenge faced by researchers, this work aims to support learner engagement through self-directed learning coupled with immediate student feedback and personalized visual dashboards. The self-directed learning supported by OPEL enables students to find and use online resources of their choice, including papers, books, tutorials, and videos to study the topics defined in the course curriculum. The feedback provides learners with advice immediately after exercises are submitted and the personalized visual dashboards enable the students to scrutinize and explore their learning activity data and their knowledge models. An evaluation is discussed which compares the engagement of the students using OPEL against its predecessor (an online learning environment used for the same module in previous years but did not support self-directed learning or immediate feedback).