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Table 1 Our approach to online student engagement

From: A balancing act: a window into online student engagement experiences

Access

Open access admission policy

Flexible progression routes

Student chooses credit load to align to lifeload

Strategic approach to transition

Pre-entry: Online socialisation courses, welcome emails and phone calls

On-entry: On campus and/or online orientation: including introduction to their programme, socialisation with staff and students, campus tour, overview of university support services, etc.

New student mentor

Support

Programme team support- Check-in emails and phone calls to identify at-risk students, programme support hub on VLE

Module tutor support- synchronous online seminars (evenings and weekends), asynchronous discussion forums, email and phone support

Institutional supports-library, student services, careers

Skills development

Online training on the use of the VLE, online classrooms, online library resources

Study skills instruction embedded in year one modules

Additional study skills online seminars throughout the year

Learning design

Modules designed for online delivery, following the ABC and Quality Matters approaches (Quality Matters, 2019; Young & Perović, 2018)

Interactive learning resources, multimedia which are informed by usability and accessibility standards

Teacher presence established through welcome video, photo, approach to facilitation

Synchronous and asynchronous interaction

Assessment

Programmatic approach to assessment and feedback, aligned to learning outcomes and learning resources

Consist approach to presentation of detailed assignment briefs

Three-week turnaround on assignment feedback using consistent, detailed feedback forms

Variety of assessment approaches

Group work to facilitate sense of belonging