E-learning in a university interdisciplinary and bilingual context: Analysis of students' participation, motivation and performance

摘要

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the use of virtual learning environments in multicultural higher education of two different subjects: foreign language and marketing. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes the aims, development and results of an interdisciplinary collaboration project was held between two European universities through a webCT system, where students had to work on linguistic aspects and economic and management topics. Findings – Univariate analysis shows students to have a great interest in the project. Different multivariate techniques determine a strong positive relationship between students' participation, implication and motivation in the project and their individual final grades in the course. Regression also proved that the more exciting and challenging the class activities, and the higher the student's active participation, the better the results obtained by the student. Research limitations/implications – Even if it is an exploratory research that should be replicated in other contexts, both the qualitative and quantitative results seem to confirm the positive contribution of this interdisciplinary e-learning activity to the multicultural teaching-learning process. Originality/value – Results support the positive influence of interdisciplinary activities in the students' performance and the use of learning methods that facilitate active and cooperative learning through audiovisual pedagogical resources in multicultural contexts.