Abstract
As more institutions offer flexible, asynchronous online learning models, it is becoming ever more important to understand how students perceive engagement in these self-paced programmes that often have minimal to no interactions with peers and lecturers. This study explored student engagement in a third-year fully online asynchronous Logistics Management course at a public university in South Africa. Deci’s (2000) theory of self-determination acted as the theoretical framework, and Reeve and Tseng’s (2011) four-dimensional engagement acted as the conceptual framework.
The study used a mixed-methods approach. An online questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data. Learning analytics logs from the institution's Moodle Learning Management System (LMS) were the secondary source of quantitative data. Qualitative insights were also gathered from interviews.
Findings revealed that cognitive and behavioural engagement was quite high, evidenced by students’ ability to apply the course content to their work environment, the ability to use learning strategies to process and master course content, such as chunking and consistent participation by logging in frequently to the LMS and creating schedules to study offline. In contrast, agentic engagement was quite low, suggesting limited opportunities for students to voice their suggestions to influence their learning environment. Emotional engagement was mixed, with some students expressing being motivated by getting instant results after assessments, being able to apply the course content to their work environment, and being able to study at their own pace and time. Other students expressed frustration and disengagement due to the workload and feelings of isolation brought by having to master complex content without the support of peers or a lecturer.
The study reveals the importance of learning institutions to design asynchronous online learning courses that integrate emotional presence, feedback channels and that incorporate learner agency. Specifically, the findings of high cognitive and behavioural engagement support recommendations to strengthen content design and independent learning strategies, while the low agentic engagement points to the need for feedback and student voice mechanisms. Similarly, mixed emotional engagement highlights the importance of building emotional presence and support structures in online course design. The study offers practical recommendations for improving engagement in asynchronous learning platforms and makes a contribution to the body of literature on engagement in asynchronous learning environments in the African higher education sector.