Student engagement and group work are critical to developing competencies, deeper learning, and attributes that align with 21st-century skills. Group work is particularly important for future employment in an increasingly competitive and dynamic workforce. A new capstone group work assignment using Online Human Touch (OHT) strategies was integrated into an Information Systems course at a regional university in the Caribbean. The course typically enrolls 250-300+ students per semester with one instructor. The assignment simulated a real-world business ‘eMeeting’ to proactively increase student engagement and retention. Quantitative data was collected three years prior to, and three years after the new ‘eMeeting’ format. Qualitative feedback after the integration shows significant increases in student engagement, while results and data show improved academic performance, higher scores on the standardized final exam and decreases in attrition. Integrating group assignments in large courses with real-world requirements, not only provide students with the opportunity to apply the knowledge, skills, and experience gained throughout the course, but enhance key soft skills sought by employers including problem-solving, ability to work in teams, communication, leadership, and time management.

中文翻译：

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从讨论论坛到电子会议：整合高接触策略，以提高大型在线课程中的学生参与度，学习成绩和保留率

学生的参与度和团队合作对于发展能力，更深入的学习以及与21世纪技能保持一致的属性至关重要。团队合作对于竞争日益激烈且充满活力的员工队伍中的未来就业尤其重要。在加勒比地区的一所地区大学中，一项使用在线人类接触（OHT）策略的新的顶峰小组工作分配已集成到信息系统课程中。该课程通常每学期招收250-300多名学生，每位只有一名讲师。作业模拟了真实世界中的业务“电子会议”，以主动提高学生的参与度和保留率。在新的“ eMeeting”格式之前和之后的三年收集定量数据。整合后的定性反馈显示学生参与度显着提高，而结果和数据显示，学业成绩有所改善，标准化期末考试成绩更高，损耗减少。将小组作业与现实世界中的要求相结合，不仅为学生提供了应用整个课程中获得的知识，技能和经验的机会，而且还增强了雇主寻求的关键软技能，包括解决问题的能力，工作能力。团队，沟通，领导和时间管理。