Effective student engagement with blended learning: A systematic review

Although student engagement is known to promote learning outcomes in higher education, what elements of blended learning designs impact effective student engagement and hereby learning outcomes, has not been clarified yet. Hence, it is unknown how to engage students with blended learning in an effective manner. The current study breaks down student engagement into four dimensions (academic, behavioral, cognitive, and affective), and reviews the evidence regarding blended learning that engages students effectively, whether this is academically, personally, socially, or with regard to citizenship. The studies reviewed (k = 15, N = 1,428) overall asserted that all blended learning interventions investigated had a moderate to high impact on student engagement and on learning outcomes. This review, a summary and insight into the evidence, is important for the field's understanding as well as for professionals in higher education: for lecturers and policy makers who want to introduce and monitor blended learning as a means to promote both student engagement and their learning outcomes in higher education. Further research is required to increase our knowledge of how blended learning impacts both multi-dimensional constructs: student engagement and learning outcomes. •Blended learning has a moderate to high positive impact on academic, behavioral, cognitive, and affective engagement.•Blended learning has a moderate to high positive impact on learning outcomes, regardless of its design features.•Effective designs: a flipped classroom, (an) online: learning community, peer assessment, fun factor, student intervention.•Blended learning literature generally measures student engagement with respect to academic learning outcomes.•Blended learning research should study learning outcomes academically, personally, socially, and regarding citizenship.