Computer-based technology and student engagement: a critical review of the literature

Computer-based technology has infiltrated many aspects of life and industry, yet there is little understanding of how it can be used to promote student engagement, a concept receiving strong attention in higher education due to its association with a number of positive academic outcomes. The purpose of this article is to present a critical review of the literature from the past 5 years related to how web-conferencing software, blogs, wikis, social networking sites (Facebook and Twitter), and digital games influence student engagement. We prefaced the findings with a substantive overview of student engagement definitions and indicators, which revealed three types of engagement (behavioral, emotional, and cognitive) that informed how we classified articles. Our findings suggest that digital games provide the most far-reaching influence across different types of student engagement, followed by web-conferencing and Facebook. Findings regarding wikis, blogs, and Twitter are less conclusive and significantly limited in number of studies conducted within the past 5 years. Overall, the findings provide preliminary support that computer-based technology influences student engagement, however, additional research is needed to confirm and build on these findings. We conclude the article by providing a list of recommendations for practice, with the intent of increasing understanding of how computer-based technology may be purposefully implemented to achieve the greatest gains in student engagement. © 2017, The Author(s)

Engaging and Empowering Business Management Students to Support the Mitigation of Climate Change Through Sustainability Auditing

In spite of growth in specialist courses and modules, and integration of some sustainability content into business management curricula, engaging business management students in sustainable business practices continues to lag behind needs of graduates in the workplace; most students do not understand the role businesses can play in supporting the mitigation of climate change and alleviation of impacts. As the learning environment is an important determinant of behaviour, new means and methods of learning, teaching and assessment are required to enhance education for sustainability for business management students to improve their knowledge of climate change mitigation, adaption and impact reduction and empower future graduate employees to change businesses from within. In response, an innovative learning, teaching and assessment approach has been designed for a 3rd year undergraduate module to equip business management students with sustainability knowledge and tools to develop and communicate climate change mitigation activities through the completion of a Global Reporting Initiative sustainability audit of a bespoke case study company. This conceptual paper presents the means and methods employed in this innovative module. It describes the theoretical and practical contexts of the module, its experiential learning, teaching and assessment means and methods designed for active, collaborative learning and outlines the opportunities and challenges experienced in designing the module. It will help members of the sustainability community seeking to build new means and methods of generative education for sustainability through active, experiential learning. It builds on existing pedagogic discourse on innovative means and methods for learning, teaching and assessment of opportunities for sustainable business futures and climate change mitigation and contributes to research into participatory approaches to education for sustainability