Engagement

Engagement is a vital dimension of your overall grade and essential for learning to occur. Most learning endeavors include engagement between the student-and-curriculum, student-with-students, and student-with-instructor. Overall, engagement represents your participation in learning as a community of practice.

For all class formats, you’ll earn engagement points by completing Engagement Self-Assessments (e.g., you evaluate and grade yourself) at selected intervals during the semester. Self-assessment offers a great opportunity to take ownership for your learning, reflect on your engagement, and set goals for the semester. If you are enrolled in a class with scheduled meeting times, then you’ll also earn points for attending each real time class session. In this way, real time class engagement is expected and is a criterion in determining your final grade.

The specific expectations for your engagement are outlined below.

Areas of Engagement

1- Weekly Preparation

Weekly preparation for learning includes: promptly accessing your course materials on AsULearn. This includes reading snapshots, announcements, previewing readings, assignment descriptions, forums, and other resources.

2- Real Time Class Engagement

Real time class engagement means that you are punctual and prepared to learn, attending the majority of class sessions, if not all. You minimize distractions and participate with awareness of course topics, actively engaging with peers and the instructor alike.

3- Self-paced Anytime Engagement

Self-paced anytime engagement is about your independent learning process and is focused on promptly completing readings, viewings, and other activities on AsULearn, along with posting within the designated timeline with attention to course topics, guiding questions, and outcomes.

4- Interactions

Interactions are about collaborative learning as a community of practice. This includes the quality of exchanges made between student-with-curriculum, student-with-students, and student-with-instructor. Engagement is shown by a dedication to not only your learning, but also the learning of others to enhance the overall learning experience.

5- Quality and Timeliness of Work

Quality and timeliness refer to your attention to assignment instructions, evaluation criteria, and deadlines. Quality work demonstrates synthesis and creative thinking, showing that you have internalized course materials and strategies through engagement with guiding questions, readings, and other resources. Timeliness means submitting or posting by the due date or earlier.

6- General Communication

Communication in learning is essential. Engaged students communicate with their instructor and peers in advance of needs and using a professional tone. They exhibit caring conduct and strive to demonstrate independence and self-motivation in learning.

Your performance across these areas will be used to identify your “Engagement Level," which is a summary of your overall participation.

Engagement Levels

Fully Engaged

The Fully Engaged Student is proactive, self-motivated, and consistently prepared. They actively participate in all aspects of the course, including classes, assignments, discussions, and activities, always with attention to quality and timeliness. They contribute meaningfully to both real-time and online interactions, initiate discussions, listen thoughtfully, and offer constructive feedback to peers. This student integrates course material with prior knowledge, connects ideas across disciplines, and demonstrates a deep understanding of course content. They take ownership of their academic progress and actively contribute to the learning community, both by engaging with the curriculum and supporting their peers.

Mostly Engaged

The Mostly Engaged Student is generally responsible, completing assignments and participating regularly, though their engagement may vary at times, such as missing a class or two. They are often on track with course materials and deadlines but may occasionally need reminders to stay fully engaged or to integrate feedback more consistently. While they contribute to discussions and support peers, their involvement may lack the depth or initiative of the fully engaged student. They are committed to their learning and to the success of the class community but may not always take the lead in discussions or go beyond the basic course requirements.

Somewhat Engaged

The Somewhat Engaged Student participates in most course activities but may struggle with consistency, often requiring reminders from the instructor. They may miss more than two classes, deadlines, submit work late, or engage only when prompted. While they complete assignments, their work may lack depth or full engagement with course material. Their contributions to discussions are often brief or surface-level, and they may not always act on feedback to improve. Their level of participation is passive, and they show inconsistent involvement in class activities and peer interactions, but they are making an effort to improve.

Not Engaged

The Not Engaged Student shows minimal involvement in the course and rarely participates in classes, discussions, assignments, or activities. They often miss deadlines, need constant reminders to engage, and show little initiative in learning. When they do participate, it is usually after the material has already been covered and contributions tend to be unsatisfactory. Their lack of consistent engagement with the course content, instructor, and peers significantly hinders their learning, and they may struggle to meet course expectations without significant improvement. This student may need to retake the course to achieve academic success.

If you are enrolled in a class with scheduled meetings, then your real-time engagement will be recorded in AsULearn using the following status settings:

Fully Engaged (FE) 3 points
Mostly Engaged (ME) 2 points
Somewhat Engaged (SE) 1 point
Not Engaged (NE) 0 points
Absences for pre-planned events or extenuating circumstances that have been communicated beforehand and approved by the instructor and/or university will be excused.

If you're looking for explicit attendance expectations, see important course policies.