The effect of student engagement strategies in online instruction for data management skills

Evaluating the effectiveness of teaching methods for synchronous online instruction is integral to fostering student engagement and maximizing student learning, particularly in one-time workshops or seminars. Using the lens of social constructivism theory, this study investigated the effect of different approaches of synchronous online instruction on the development of graduate students’ research data management (RDM) skills during the post-pandemic era. One experimental group received teacher-centered instruction primarily via lecture and the second experimental group received student-centered instruction with active learning activities. A one-way ANCOVA was used to compare the post-test RDM scores between one control group and the two experimental groups, while controlling for the impact of their pre-test RDM scores. Both experimental groups who received online RDM instruction scored higher than participants from the control group who received no instruction. Additionally, our results indicated that learners who were exposed to more engaged and collaborative instruction demonstrated higher learning outcomes than students who received teacher-centered instruction. These findings suggest that interactive teaching that actively engages the audience is essential for successful synchronous online learning. Simply transferring a lecture-based approach to online teaching will not result in optimal student engagement and learning. The interactive online instructional strategies used in this study (e.g., collective note-taking, Google Jamboard activities) can be applied to any instructional content to engage learners and enhance student learning.