scholarly journals A review of predictive factors of student success in and satisfaction with online learning

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Kauffman

Students perceive online courses differently than traditional courses. Negative perceptions can lead to unfavourable learning outcomes including decreased motivation and persistence. Throughout this review, a broad range of factors that affect performance and satisfaction within the online learning environment for adult learners will be examined including learning outcomes, instructional design and learner characteristics, followed by suggestions for further research, and concluding with implications for online learning pertinent to administrators, instructors, course designers and students. Online learning may not be appropriate for every student. Identifying particular characteristics that contribute to online success versus failure may aid in predicting possible learning outcomes and save students from enrolling in online courses if this type of learning environment is not appropriate for them. Furthermore, knowing these learner attributes may assist faculty in designing quality online courses to meet students’ needs. Adequate instructional methods, support, course structure and design can facilitate student performance and satisfaction.Keywords: online learning; learner characteristics; instructional design; online learning outcomes(Published: 27 August 2015)Responsible Editor: Meg O’Reilly, Southern Cross University, AustraliaCitation: Research in Learning Technology 2015, 23: 26507 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v23.26507

2019 ◽  
pp. 174-182
Author(s):  
Louise Maddens ◽  
Fien Depaepe ◽  
Annelies Raes ◽  
Jan Elen

In today’s complex world, the acquisition of research skills is considered an important goal in (upper secondary) education. Consequently, there is a growing body of literature that recognises the value of well-designed (online) learning environments for effectively supporting the development of this complex set of skills. However, a clear consensus on how these research skills can be facilitated is currently lacking. Furthermore, interventions aiming to foster these skills are often implemented in specific domains, mostly in physics, biology and chemistry. In addition, current approaches to facilitation often refer to only a few epistemic activities related to research skills. Because of the broad and (mainly) domain-specific character of research skills, the purpose of this paper is to articulate the instructional design considerations for an online learning environment for upper secondary school students’ (broad set of) research skills in a(n) (underrepresented) behavioural sciences context.


Author(s):  
Caroline M. Crawford

Teacher presence refers to the fully engaged instructional facilitator within a learning environment. Within this specific discussion of teacher presence, the focus is upon distributed learning environments that includes not only online learning environments but also mobile learning engagement efforts. Teacher presence engages not merely an instructional design and evaluative assessment effort, but integrally engages the learners within the instructional environment through discourse, reflective practices and supporting the motivational needs of the learner. Further, teacher presence directly impacts the motivational and cognitive support needs of learners, through instructionally appropriate actions of the instructor as a facilitative guide, as a self-regulatory maven, within a cognitive load support system, as well as mentor-focused instructional efforts.


Author(s):  
Jennifer Lee ◽  
Lin Lin

Based on constructivist principles, this chapter provides a new instructional design map for online learning environments. This instructional design map includes considerations of five elements, namely, learner, knowledge, learning environment, assessment, and technology. Considerations of these elements are based on analyses of the past and existing instructional design models, online learning models, and constructive principles. Applications of the instructional design map are also discussed in the chapter.


Author(s):  
Kathryn Woods

Advances in technology have increased opportunities for students to participate in online courses. While some instructors are beginning their careers teaching only online courses, others are discovering a need to teach sections of courses online after they have enjoyed a long career teaching in a traditional classroom. In either situation, it is important for instructors to recognize that students in online learning environments require the use of different strategies for encouraging engagement and participation in class. In this chapter, the author describes the challenges that students and instructors face specifically in the online learning environment as well as strategies for success, including how to maximize the impact of students' experiences and prior knowledge, using multiple platforms to deliver information, discouraging procrastination, setting clear expectations, encouraging individuality, capitalizing on diversity, and providing and utilizing helpful resources.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 522-527
Author(s):  
Emily Player ◽  
Alice Shiner ◽  
Nick Steel ◽  
Veena Rodrigues

Continuing professional development (CPD) is essential for the maintenance and improvement of the knowledge and skills of healthcare professionals. GP registrars are required to evidence CPD in their ePortfolio and likewise, GPs are mandated to accrue and evidence a minimum of 50 hours CPD for their annual appraisal. CPD can be delivered in many ways, with an increasing movement towards online learning. Technology-enhanced learning (TEL) encompasses online learning and is ever changing. This article will discuss a type of TEL known as massive open online courses (MOOCs) and the role of MOOCs in delivering CPD.


Author(s):  
Min Young Doo ◽  
Curtis Bonk ◽  
Heeok Heo

The significance of scaffolding in education has received considerable attention. Many studies have examined the effects of scaffolding with diverse groups of participants, purposes, learning outcomes, and learning environments. The purpose of this research was to conduct a meta-analysis of the effects of scaffolding on learning outcomes in an online learning environment in higher education. This meta-analysis included studies with 64 effect sizes from 18 journal articles published in English, in eight countries, from 2010 to 2019. The meta-analysis revealed that scaffolding in an online learning environment has a large and statistically significant effect on learning outcomes. The meta-cognitive domain yielded a larger effect size than did the affective and cognitive domains. In terms of types of scaffolding activities, meta-cognitive scaffolding outnumbered other types of scaffolding. Computers as a scaffolding source in an online learning environment were also more prevalent than were human instructors. In addition, scholars in the United States have produced a large portion of the scaffolding research. Finally, the academic area of language and literature has adopted scaffolding most widely. Given that effective scaffolding can improve the quality of learning in an online environment, the current research is expected to contribute to online learning outcomes and learning experiences.


2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Houston Heflin ◽  
Suzanne Macaluso

Assessing the degree to which students engage and learn from their online courses will be important as online courses are becoming more ubiquitous. This study sought to capture student perceptions of their independence as learners, their level of engagement, their effort exerted, and the amount of information they learned in online courses. The study was conducted over three years with 455 students who completed a self-assessment at the end of an intensive summer online course. Results showed an equal number of students agreeing and disagreeing that online courses help students learn the same amount of information encountered in a face-to-face course. The majority of students reported they were more independent (84.4%), were more engaged (54.5%) and exerted more effort (57.4%), in their online course than a typical face-to-face class. Recommendations are made for faculty creating online courses who have the opportunity to coach students on how to succeed in the online learning environment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florence Martin ◽  
Doris U Bolliger

Student engagement increases student satisfaction, enhances student motivation to learn, reduces the sense of isolation, and improves student performance in online courses. This survey-based research study examines student perception on various engagement strategies used in online courses based on Moore’s interaction framework. One hundred and fifty five students completed a 38-item survey on learner-to-learner, learner-to-instructor, and learner-to-content engagement strategies. Learner-to-instructor engagement strategies seemed to be most valued among the three categories. Icebreaker/introduction discussions and working collaboratively using online communication tools was rated the most beneficial engagement strategy in the learner-to-learner category, whereas sending regular announcements or e-mail reminders and providing grading rubrics for all assignments was rated the most beneficial in learner to instructor category. In the student-content category, students mentioned working on real world projects and having discussions with structured or guiding questions were the most beneficial. This study also analyzed age, gender, and online learning years of experience differences on their perception of engagement strategies. The results of the study have implications for online instructors, instructional designers, and administrators who wish to enhance engagement in the online courses.


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