Linking Online Learning Readiness to the Use of Online Learning Tools: The Case of Postgraduate Engineering Students

摘要

BACKGROUND It has been argued that the development of online learning adopted by Australian tertiary programs has progressed without the proper guidance of a pedagogical model, and this has led to growing student dissatisfaction. Given this concern, it is important to understand which qualities of students are critical for their achievement and satisfaction in an online learning environment, and whether these qualities will likely lead to students' success in online learning. In response to this, a number of online learning readiness assessment frameworks have been proposed by education researchers. However, the relationship between such readiness and online learning outcomes has not been well established. PURPOSE The objectives of this research are to assess the online learning readiness (OLR) of a sample group of postgraduate engineering students and to determine whether there is any association between the level of readiness and the extent to which the students use online learning tools. DESIGN/METHOD The research employed a questionnaire survey targeting a group of postgraduate students undertaking a project management course at Griffith University. In total, there were 52 students enrolled in this course, representing the sampling frame used in this research. A questionnaire was developed to assess the levels of OLR of the sampled students as well as the extent to which they use each of the four main online learning features, including online learning materials, lecture recordings, online discussion board and online review questions/quizzes. Cluster analysis was employed to group the respondents with similar profile across the OLR variables. The actual use of online learning tools from each cluster was then examined and compared. RESULTS Results from the analysis of 30 valid responses indicated that the sampled students could be classified into three main groups: (1) Developed OLR; (2) Less-developed OLR; and (3) Developing OLR. The differences between these groups could be illustrated based on the four OLR factors: Technical Skills, Computer Self-Efficacy, Learning Preferences and Attitudes towards Computers. Overall, students in the Developed OLR group are the most extensive users of online learning tools whereas those from the Developing OLR group are the least extensive users. In particular, the Developing OLR students used much less the discussion board and online quizzes than the other two groups. It was also found that students in the Developed OLR group used the discussion board and online quizzes as much as those in the Less-developed OLR group. CONCLUSIONS Overall, the students had different levels of OLR and can be clustered into three main groups: Developed, Less-developed and Developing OLR. The differences between these clusters were mainly influenced by the students' learning preferences and technical skills. Comparing the use of online learning tools among these three groups, the results suggested that the higher level of OLR can be associated with the more extensive use of online learning tools. It was also found that learning preferences seems to play a major role in influencing the extent to which students use online learning tools. In addition, lacking of technical skills seems to have a negative impact on certain types of online learning tools, in this case online discussion board and online quizzes.