If You Build It, Will They Learn? Using the Learning Management System to Measure Engagement and Impact

This study uses the learning management system (LMS) to track student engagement with a pedagogical intervention in a research methods course. The data were collected over 10 semesters to gauge whether students accessed the supplemental learning materials and whether those materials impacted their learning. I find that although the level of engagement and its effectiveness were mixed and varied by semester, engaging more with the supplemental materials did improve student performance overall. This research emphasizes the importance of measuring whether our interventions even reach their intended targets (i.e., students) and demonstrates the utility of the LMS as a data-collection tool for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning research.