Student Engagement from Supplemental Facebook Group Usage at a Post-Secondary Institution

Abstract

This was a quantitative investigation and analysis of instructor and student perceptions pertaining to the supplemental use of Facebook Groups at a post-secondary level institution. Nineteen instructors and thirty-two students at a Midwest Technical College voluntarily participated in a survey that gathered basic demographic data, and gauged participants' perceptions of the benefits and concerns associated with participation in supplemental Facebook Groups using a five-point Likert scale. The institution is typical of a non-residence/technical college, where many students’ time on campus is limited to mainly course attendance due to students’ demanding external commitments. Eighteen hypotheses compared the differences in perceived benefits between those who agreed to supplemental Facebook Group use for coursework, and those who did not. The investigator found significant differences between students in five areas: feelings of connectedness, perception of an overall benefit of Facebook usage, perception of an overall sense of well-being, concerns over Facebook affiliations, correlation between gender and a students Facebook use for coursework. Significant differences between instructors’ perceptions existed in two areas: perception of their students’ overall sense of well-being with Facebook usage, and perceptions of an overall benefit with Facebook group usage by their students.