Modifying the student course engagement questionnaire for use with online courses

The purpose of this study was to modify the Student Course Engagement Questionnaire (SCEQ) for use in varied teaching settings, including online graduate courses. The SCEQ-M was administered to 276 students enrolled in a variety of graduate-level education and counseling courses during the Spring 2016 semester. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using Maximum Likelihood identified four dimensions in the modified scale: Applied Engagement, Goal-Oriented Engagement, Self-Discipline Engagement, and Interactive Engagement. The SCEQ-M scores showed good internal consistency reliabilities ranging from .71 to .81. This study found that this instrument may be used to compare student engagement styles and suggests that instructors should seek to improve student engagement to better match engagement style to type of course. Other findings and implications for future research are also discussed.