Research on the Influence of Synchronous Interactive Class on Student Online Learning Engagement

With the development of information technology, online education has been more and more significant. It also has some dilemma, however, such as high dropout rate and low engagement. In this paper, we explored the impacts of the synchronous interactive course on student behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and emotional engagement. Guided by mixed research methods, we conducted the research in a “knowledge media and learning” class for 10 weeks. The research found that synchronous interactive online courses can significantly improve students’ behavioral engagement, cognitive engagement, and emotional engagement. This effect was embodied in helping students to complete learning tasks regularly, increasing their learning willingness, improving their learning attitude, and enhancing their sense of learning community. In order to improve student engagement in online courses, we suggested that online course instructional design should take advantages of both synchronous and asynchronous interactions, and balance the proportion and priority of synchronous and asynchronous interactions in the learning activities.