This paper presents the results of a study that examines the impact on end-of-year examination grades of the level of student engagement in the e-learning process. The study relates to a level one undergraduate module delivered using a mixture of traditional lectures and e-learning based methods.

Greater online interaction is found to have a positive and statistically significant impact on performance. One extra hour of e-learning participation is found to increase the module mark by approximately one percent.

The paper also examines the data for the presence of interaction effects between e-learning engagement and personal characteristics. This is undertaken to identify whether or not personal-characteristic-related learning style differences influence the extent to which students benefit from e-learning. It is found that, after controlling for other factors, female students benefited less from e-leaning material than their male counterparts. Tentative evidence is also found of a negative interaction effect in relation to overseas students.

It is concluded that in order to improve teaching effectiveness and academic achievement, higher education should consider aiming to develop e-learning teaching strategies that encourage greater engagement and also take into consideration the different learning styles found within the student body.