Disrupted student engagement and motivation: observations from online and face-to-face university learning environments

Abstract

Student engagement is a crucial factor that can influence both the student learning experience and student success. The return to campus learning and teaching after the pandemic highlighted that many university students are still adapting to the shift to full-time online learning from hybrid or full-time on-campus learning and are still experiencing feelings of isolation, anxiety, and uncertainty. As higher education institutions adopt or embed digital methods of teaching and learning with simultaneously moving back to face-to-face learning environments, student feelings of isolation and disengagement are apparent to educators. This “transition,” in our opinion, has affected how learners engage in digital as well as face-to-face environments. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of engagement within an online setting as it brings about new factors for student learning and teaching that were not fully considered before. To address this issue, universities have sharpened the focus on improving student motivation, self-efficacy, and their sense of belonging within their learning community. As educators, it is important for us to understand this period of student disengagement and develop strategies to overcome and support students. We can acknowledge that such challenges are likely to resurface in the future; therefore, it is essential that we are able to provide frameworks to enhance student engagement within higher education. We believe that in creating an effective learning environment, whether it be online or on-campus, educators need to develop intrinsic motivation techniques and collaborative spaces to increase the sense of belonging for students and improve their overall engagement with their learning course content.