Engaged to Succeed: Understanding First-Year Engineering Students’ Course Engagement and Performance Through Analytics

The use of analytics in education provides researchers the opportunity to uncover student engagement habits by utilizing data generated through online platforms such as course learning management systems (LMS). Student engagement has been shown to vary based on student-instructor interaction. We examined LMS usage of first-year engineering students in a large research university in the United States to examine the following three research questions: 1) How do course grades vary based on the students' instructor and the overall number of LMS sessions per student, 2) How do course grades vary based on the students' instructor and the number of LMS sessions per student for different course tools, and 3) How does the timing and frequency of LMS tool usage relate to course grades and vary across instructors? We found a positive relationship between LMS usage and course grades; however, the relationship is dependent upon the instructor of the course, as well as for the specific type of tool used. We also found that the day of the week on which the LMS was used is a strong predictor of student course grades. The results empirically demonstrate that better engagement with a course leads to better outcomes and there are variations in how instructors use an LMS which ultimately influences student usage and performance. We also illustrate an opportunity for researchers and instructors to capture, analyze, and use LMS data to inform and improve teaching practices and policies.