Do Student-Instructor Co-created eLearning Materials Lead to Better Learning Outcomes? Empirical Results from a German Large Scale Course Pilot Study

Universities in Germany face increasing numbers of students, while resources are stagnating or shrinking. Especially large scale lectures suffer from a lack of individualization and interaction, often leading to inefficient learning outcomes and low student satisfaction. We present the concept of instructors co-creating eLearning modules and even parts of the exam with students for improving learning outcomes and student satisfaction. Following an action research approach, we developed, applied, and refined the concept in a mass lecture course setting over four semesters. Evaluation of questionnaires and exam results show that our concept leads to a significant increase in perceived learning satisfaction and learning outcomes. This paper outlines and tests new ways of enhanced learner integration into learning service delivery. It shows the actual impact of student integration into learning content creation, both on service quality and learning outcomes while taking resource efficiency into account.