What Factors Impact Student – Content Interaction in Fully Online Courses

Full Text (PDF, 272KB), PP.28-35

Views: 0 Downloads: 0

Author(s)

Dip Nandi 1,* Margaret Hamilton 2 James Harland 2

1. American International University- Bangladesh, Dhaka, 1213, Bangladesh

2. RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia

* Corresponding author.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5815/ijmecs.2015.07.04

Received: 14 Mar. 2015 / Revised: 16 Apr. 2015 / Accepted: 23 May 2015 / Published: 8 Jul. 2015

Index Terms

Online learning, interaction, content management, learning environment, student centered, content structure

Abstract

The rapid advancement of fully online courses has made education accessible from “anywhere” and “anytime”. One of the major success factors of online courses is effective student - content interaction - which defines how students interact with the content in the fully online learning environment. However, there appears to have been little research published about the relationship of content to course design and consequent outcomes for students. In this article, we report on our research on the investigation of factors that affect student - content interaction in fully online computing courses. We have conducted our research through surveys and used a grounded theoretic approach for data analysis. Our results identify the factors that are perceived by students as critical in ensuring effective student - content interaction in fully online computing courses.

Cite This Paper

Dip Nandi, Margaret Hamilton, James Harland, "What Factors Impact Student – Content Interaction in Fully Online Courses", International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science (IJMECS), vol.7, no.7, pp.28-35, 2015. DOI:10.5815/ijmecs.2015.07.04

Reference

[1]Tanaka, Y. (2005) ‘Invited Workshop on Dissemination of Elearning Technologies and Applications: Memetic Approach to the Dissemination of Elearning Objects’, Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium on Information and Communication Technologies WISICT '05, Dublin: Trinity College.
[2]Allen, I & Seaman, J. (2005) ‘Growing by degrees: Online education in the United States’, 2005, Report sponsored by The Sloan Consortium.
[3]Waits, T, Lewis, L & Greene, B. (2003) ‘Distance education at degree-granting postsecondary institutions: 2000-2001’, Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, [NCES 2003-017]. Retrieved on June 1, 2012 from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2003017.
[4]Ludwig-Hardman, S. & Dunlap, J. (2003) ‘Student support services for online students: Scaffolding for success’, The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, vol.4, no. 1, Retrieved October 15, 2011, from http://www. irrodl.org/index.php/irrodl/article/view/131/211.
[5]Wilson, J & Albion, P. (2009) ‘Interaction, student styles, and content in online courses: implications for teacher preparation’, In: Maddux, Cleborne, (ed.) Research highlights in technology and teacher education 2009, Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE) / Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Chesapeake, VA, pp. 347-354. ISBN 1-880094-74-6.
[6]Lou, Y., Bernard, R. M. & Abrami, P. C. (2006) ‘Media and Pedagogy in Undergraduate Distance education: A Theory-Based Meta-Analysis of Empirical Literature’, Educational Technology Research and Development, Vol. 54, No. 2, p. 141–176.
[7]Strachota, E. (2006) ‘The Use of Survey Research to Measure Student Satisfaction in Online Courses, Midwest Research-to-Practice’, Conference in Adult, Continuing, and Community Education, University of Missouri-St. Louis, MO, October 4-6, 2006.
[8]Chou, C., Peng, H. & Chang, C. (2010) ‘The technical framework of interactive functions for course-management systems: Students’ perceptions, uses, and evaluations’, Computers & Education. vol. 55 (2010), pp. 1004–1017.
[9]Vovides, Y., Sanchez-Alonso, S., Mitropoulou, V. & Nickmans. G. (2007) ‘The use of e-learning course management systems to support learning strategies and to improve self-regulated learning’, Educational Research Review, vol. 2 pp. 64–74.
[10]Malikowski, S. R. (2008) ‘Factors related to breadth of use in course management systems’, The Internet and Higher Education, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 81–86.
[11]Chang, S. H. & Smith, R. A. (2008) ‘Effectiveness of Personal Interaction in a Learner-Centered Paradigm Distance Education Class Based on Student Satisfaction’ Journal of Research on Technology in Education, v40 n4 p407-426.
[12]Yasar, O. & Adiguzela. T. (2010) ‘A working successor of learning management systems: SLOODLE’, Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2 (2010), pp. 5682–5685.
[13]Kemp, J. & Livingstone, D. (2006) ‘Putting a Second Life “Metaverse” Skin on Learning Management Systems, Proceedings of the Second Life Education Workshop at the Second Life Community Convention, San Francisco, pp. 13-18.
[14]Dunlap, J. C., Sobel, D. & Sands. D. I. (2007) ‘Supporting students’ cognitive processing in online courses: Designing for Deep and Meaningful Student-to-Content Interactions’, TechTrends, July/August 2007, vol. 51, no. 4.Authors (2012).
[15]Dominic, M., Anthony, B. & Francis, S. (2015). ‘A Framework to Formulate Adaptivity for Adaptive e-Learning System Using User Response Theory’ I.J. Modern Education and Computer Science, 2015, 1, 23-30 Published Online January 2015 in MECS (http://www.mecs-press.org/) DOI: 10.5815/ijmecs.2015.01.04 Copyright © 2015.
[16]Strauss, A.L. & Corbin, J.M. (1990) ‘Basics of qualitative research: grounded theory procedures and techniques, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA, USA.
[17]Patton, M. Q. (1990) ‘Qualitative evaluation and research methods, (2nd ed.), Newbury Park. CA: Sage publications, Inc.
[18]Laws, K & McLeod, R. (2004) ‘Case study and grounded theory: Sharing some alternative qualitative research methodologies with systems professionals’, Proceedings of the 22nd International Conference, 25-29th July, Systems Dynamic Society.
[19]Strauss, A. L. and Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, 2nd ed, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, USA.
[20]Neuman, W. L. (2006). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches, 6th Ed.
[21]Glaser, B. G. & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Aldine, New York Xx.
[22]Nandi, D., Hamilton, M. & Harland, J. (2012). Evaluating the quality of interaction in asynchronous discussion forums in fully online courses, Distance Education, 33:1, 5-30.
[23]Baran, E. & Correia, A. (2009) ‘Student-led facilitation strategies in online discussions’, Distance Education, vol. 30, pp. 339–361.
[24]Nandi, D., Hamilton, M., Harland, J. and Warburton, G. (2011). How Active are Students in Online Discussion Forums?. In Proc. Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE 2011), Perth, Australia. CRPIT, 114. John Hamer and Michael de Raadt Eds., ACS. 125-134.
[25]Sax, L., Gilmartin, S., and Bryant, A. (2003). Assessing response rates and non-response bias in web and paper surveys. Research in Higher Education, 44(4), 409 – 432.
[26]Mason, M. (2010) ‘Sample Size and Saturation in PhD Studies Using Qualitative Interviews’, Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, vol. 11, no. 3, Art. 8, http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs100387.
[27]Creswell, J. (1998) Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five traditions, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[28]Morse, J. M. (1994) ‘Designing funded qualitative research’, In Norman K. Denzin & Yvonna S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (2nd ed., pp. 220-235), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
[29]Chen, C. Y., Pedersen, S. & Murphy, K. L. (2011) ‘Learners’ perceived information overload in online learning via computer-mediated communication’, Research in Learning Technology, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 101–116.
[30]Badge, J. L., Saunders, N. F. W. & Cann, A. J. (2012) ‘Beyond marks: new tools to visualise student engagement via social networks’, Research in Learning Technology 2012, 20: 16283 - DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v20i0/16283.
[31]Crampton, A., Ragusa A. T. & Cavanagh, H. (2012) ‘Cross-discipline investigation of the relationship between academic performance and online resource access by distance education students’, Research in Learning Technology, 2012, 20: 14430 - DOI: 10.3402/rlt.v20i0/14430.
[32]Nie, M., Armellini, A., Witthaus G. & Barklamb. K. (2011) ‘How do e-book readers enhance learning opportunities for distance work-based learners?’, Research in Learning Technology, vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 19–38.
[33]Gilakjani, A. P., Leong, L. M., Ismail, H, N. (2013). ‘Teachers’ Use of Technology and Constructivism’. I.J.Modern Education and Computer Science, 2013, 4, 49-63 Published Online May 2013 in MECS (http://www.mecs-press.org/) DOI:10.5815/ijmecs.2013.04.07 Copyright © 2013.