Increasing Optional Class Session Attendance in an Online Course with a Brief, Low-Effort Choice Intervention

Abstract

Student–faculty interaction and attendance have been demonstrated to positively influence a student’s overall course satisfaction and grade outcomes. Still, students often fail to participate in supplementary classes, study sessions, or office hours offered by instructors. The present study evaluated a brief, low-effort choice intervention designed to improve attendance in weekly supplementary class sessions. In a graduate-level online course, the teacher’s assistant (TA) conducted weekly, optional class sessions and recorded student attendance. The instructors randomly alternated weekly sessions to include class-as-usual or a choice intervention consisting of presenting anonymous online polls with which students could vote for topics for the TA to specifically address in the next session. The results showed an average attendance increase of 12% in the choice condition compared to class-as-usual, supporting the use of student choice as a method to increase student engagement in supplementary learning experiences.