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Tuesday, 13 July 2004: 9:30 AM-10:30 AM | |||
Oceanic 1 (Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel) | |||
A-2: Analyzing the Activities of Successful and Non-Successful Online Students | |||
| Detailed Description: | As more institutions offer courses and parts of courses online, researchers will be called to research empirically behaviors that lead to student success in the electronic environment. This session will present data from an analysis of online activity by students enrolled in fully online undergraduate courses within three courses over three semesters. Differences in participation were explored using two dependent variables: course completion and grades, and selected input variables (e.g. academic background and demographics). | ||
| Presentation Format: | Paper | ||
| Topic: | Measuring outcomes: Student achievement and course success | ||
| Target Audience: | Course Designers, Faculty and Other Instructors, Senior Administrators, E-learning Managers | ||
| Appropriate Audience Level: | Beginning or new users of WebCT, Experienced WebCT users | ||
| Abstract Text: | The purpose of this research was to learn more about student engagement in the online environment through an empirical analysis of student participation in online courses. Our previous research found that students withdraw at higher rates than in face-to-face settings, yet online courses have been found to have high levels of cognitive presence. The level of cognitive presence exhibited by a student was positively correlated to the grade a student received. These observations raised the following questions: 1. What is the relationship of student participation to student persistence and achievement? 2. Are there differences in participation, persistence, and achievement by background (e.g., gpa) and demographic variables (e.g., gender, race)? The study population included students enrolled in fully online undergraduate courses in three different courses (English, History, and Geology) over three semesters. The empirical data for this study were obtained from the student access logs and course discussion board logs found in archived courses delivered via WebCT CE 3.7. Using excel spreadsheets and SPSS, the access and discussion log data were exported into a format for analysis. A content identification system was developed to link the content pages of each course to student and faculty activity vis-à-vis these and other server logs. Finally, statistical analysis was conducted to explore the relationship of student participation, background and input variables to persistence and achievement. In the pilot study it was found that students who review online materials and participate in discussions on a regular basis were more likely to complete a course successfully than students who did not. One surprising finding was that responding to discussion messages, rather than creating new ones had a negative correlation to student success. The session will present the provide baseline data descriptive of participation in the online environment and its impact on student persistence and achievement. | ||
| Session Leader: | Catherine L. Finnegan Board of Regents of University System of Georgia | ||
| Co-presenters: | Gina Papa Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia Libby Morris Institute of Higher Education Sz-Shyan (Bryan) Wu Institute of Higher Education | ||
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