ERIC Number: EJ1223646
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Jul
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1492-3831
EISSN: N/A
Patterns of Students' Utilization of Flexibility in Online Academic Courses and Their Relation to Course Achievement
Soffer, Tal; Kahan, Tali; Nachmias, Rafi
International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, v20 n3 p202-220 Jul 2019
Online academic courses provide students with flexible learning opportunities by allowing them to make choices regarding diverse aspects of their learning process; hence, such courses support personalized learning. This study aimed to analyze the ways students make use of flexibility in online academic courses based on learning time, place, and access to learning resources, as well as to investigate how this relates to differences in course achievement. The study examined 587 students in four online courses. Educational data mining (EDM) methodology was used to trace students' behavior in the courses and to compute 34 variables, which describe their use of flexibility. The results show that students developed different patterns of learning time, place, and access to content, which indicates that flexibility was used substantially. Students' achievements were significantly related to patterns of learning time and access to learning resources. Understanding the different patterns of flexibility usage may support the design of personalized learning and increase collaboration among students with similar characteristics.
Descriptors: Online Courses, Educational Technology, Technology Uses in Education, Academic Achievement, Time Factors (Learning), Access to Education, Undergraduate Students, Integrated Learning Systems
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A