An Examination of the Impact of Aspects of Online Education Delivery on Students

Marinka Dunlop, Commerce & Management, Southern Cross University,Mdunlop@scu.edu.au

Don Scott, Commerce & Management, Southern Cross University,Dscott@scu.edu.au

Abstract

The results showed that the students expended more effort in using the online learning system, largely through difficulties that they experienced in using the software and through computerisation problems. However, they still viewed online learning favourably after they had experienced it regardless of a perceived lack of immediacy in feedback, computer and environmental ignorance.

Free form comments were also collected from the students and these were used to better explain the causes of the results obtained from the hypothesis tests. This paper therefore reflects the some of the impacts of online education delivery on students’ learning.

Introduction

Communication has undergone a revolution in recent times with the advent of computer-mediated communication, the Internet and cyberspace.

One of the services that could potentially be very heavily impacted upon by this revolution, is the distance delivery of education. The online mode of delivery offers a vast potential for new methods, techniques and pedagogical practices (Sherry 1998) to be incorporated into the delivery process (Conner 1996). At the same time the new mode poses a number of very important and as yet unanswered questions in terms of the impact that the new delivery system might have on students’ learning processes. The aim of this study therefore was to explore some of the effects of one such system of computer based education delivery in terms of its impact on students’ learning.

Background to the research

The broad issues surrounding computer-assisted delivery of education appear to be academic, technical, administrative, instructional and behavioural (Kostopoulos 1998). For instance, within the traditional approach to higher education "…the burden of communicating course material resides primarily with the instructor" (Felder 1996).

However, Gange` (Gange` 1973) points out that a large part of learning is concerned with what is relevant to the learner. There is concern that the content of paper-based course work, when transferred to the online environment should retain and enhance student relevance. Felder maintains there is an enhancement of the approach to the active learning experience for lectures thereby exposing the learners to varied teaching techniques. Furthermore, there is a subsequent creation of more participatory learning by "…holding students responsible for the pace and often the direction of their own learning" (Felder 1996).

Brick et al (Brick 1998) discuss computer-based interaction as the relationship between people, with the technology which supports it being only a tool in that interaction. Kling (Kling 1994) supports this concept. He asserts that much of the "…popular, professional and scholarly literature which claims to describe the actual nature of computerisation, the character of computer use, and the social choices and changes that result from computerisation "emanates from what he has coined, ‘technological utopia’. Kling’s contention is that "… utopian analyses are most likely to dominate the discourse because most authors will champion special computer technologists or align with their champions".

Corderoy (Corderoy 1998) describes Web based teaching as an interactive lesson or unit sited in cyberspace. This would appear to be supported by Berge (Berge 1995) as he promotes the concept of higher order cognitive processes for students during their construction of knowledge using such interactive methods. Further, the notion that technologies are held to be social is put forward by Falk (Sherry 1998) and supported by Sherry (1998:3).

The notion of applying computer-mediated communication to distance education requires an empirical shift in computer competencies (Athanasou 1998). 'Computer literacy’ (Conner 1996) takes on a new perspective in as much as word processing and perhaps spreadsheet usage are no longer sufficient basis for learning.

The outcome of these discussions by the various writers has been to highlight the need to investigate a number of issues in relation to computer based on-line instruction. Those issues that were addressed in this research are now outlined in the following section detailing the purpose of this research.

The Purpose of the Research

The purpose of the investigation was to ascertain how online delivered units impacted on external students. This was investigated through the medium of the following hypotheses:

This hypothesis examined the possible change in mechanical computer usage proficiency that might occur from a computer based instructional process.

This hypothesis examined the change in preference for online learning as against traditional learning after students had experienced a computer based online learning process.

This hypothesis in conjunction with hypothesis H_04, was designed to test the students perceptions of the effort that they had to put in when undertaking a computer based online learning unit, in relation to a traditionally taught unit.

This hypothesis was designed to assess the feelings of the students about the need for interpersonal rather than impersonal interactions with a lecturer.

The Research Study

The research study was designed as a comparative, longitudinal, quasi-experimental Two Group Pretest-Posttest exploratory study (Owen 1993; Davis 1999). The sample population consisted of all the external students enrolled in seven participating online units, five of which were social science units and two of which were legal studies units at an Australian university.

The assessment was done by means of the use of a questionnaire. The questions covered a number of issues that emerged from the literature. The first of these was the formative evaluation of the effectiveness of online intervention; and, secondly the impact the intervention was having on the participating external students (Phelps 1998). This was assessed by means of hypotheses H_02, H₀₃ and H_05. Additionally, three further issues were concerned with the levels of computer literacy (H₀₁) and time-management H_04.

Questionnaire development

The questionnaire was compiled from questions used in questionnaires employed in previous online research studies (Creed 1997; Creed ND; Felder 1994). The questions were adapted from the surveys mounted by Creed in Project ADEPT together with questions from a long distance online engineering course evaluation survey by Felder (Felder 1994). Student respondents were also requested to provide free form comments with regard to their online learning experiences.

The questions used were selected from the pre-existing studies, together with some open questions designed to provide details of the background of the responding students. In addition, free form response questions were compiled, as well, into two questionnaires: a pretest survey called the ­ Beginning of Semester Survey as per Creed (Creed 1997); and, a posttest survey called the - End of Semester Survey as per Creed (Creed ND).

The Beginning of Semester pretest questionnaire was sent to 120 enrolled external students with a prepaid, return addressed envelope. At the conclusion of the semester, the same procedure was applied to the End of Semester posttest questionnaire. A total of 42, or 35%, pretest responses and 33, and 27.5%, posttest responses were returned.

The closed response scaled questions used in the study are shown in Table 1

Results of the Study

Description of the Sample

The sample population of online students had an average age of 38 as is shown in Table 2

The sample consisted mainly of women (85%) who were furthering their education to enhance their employment prospects. The small number of male students (15% of the respondents) indicated that they were already in the workforce and wished to undergo further training to improve their promotional or job security prospects. The majority of the adult students had families and sustained some type of outside work. Collectively, two-thirds of the respondents were undertaking distance education to increase their employment prospects.

Most of the participating students had previously completed traditional paper-based units through distance education, and were therefore assumed to be conversant with tertiary requirements regarding assessment, time management and resources.

The age level of the respondent could possibly have had a bearing on the extent of entry-level knowledge indicated and their degree of demonstrated coping abilities. The results of this research are therefore applicable to mature age students interested in developing a working career. However, it should be noted that the average age of distance education students is higher than that of on campus students and therefore they are more likely to be up-skilling than learning.

Tests of the Hypotheses

The data was analysed by examining the average values for the pre and posttest scores in respect of the different scaled questions. In addition to the collection of quantifiable data, the instrument had provision for the participants to make free form comments about the particular issue under examination and where these related to a scaled closed question, the responses were used to better inform the results of the hypothesis tests.

Table 3 shows that hypothesis H₀₁ was supported and that in the area of mechanical proficiency as determined by word-processing, there was only a minimal difference in the mean scores between the pre and posttests.

In the free form comment section of the questionnaire, the students indicated that they expected to increase their computer skill-level after completing online tuition. However, they recorded little improvement in word-processing capabilities in their posttest responses.

The second hypothesis H₀₂ was that there was no difference between the average pre and posttest scores for students’ preferences for traditional or online delivery of the unit materials. This hypothesis was rejected as is shown in Table 4. Both the pre and posttest scores indicated a preference for the online mode of instruction,, and there was a significant change in this level of preference following the online learning experience.

It would appear from this result that students on average did have a positive learning experience from their on-line learning involvement.

Table 5 indicates that hypothesis H₀₃ namely that there was no difference between the average pre and post test scores for energy that the students had to expend when undertaking this online unit compared to their experience in undertaking a traditional paper-based distance unit, was rejected. There was an increased degree of expended energy over that anticipated as reflected by the difference between the average pre and posttest scores.

From their comments it was evident that the students had encountered major difficulties in learning to use the new online system and had expended a major amount of energy as a result. Much frustration and angst over wasted time was caused by their inability to familiarise themselves with the system and with the software prior to having to use it for learning

Hypothesis H₀₄ was that there was no difference between average of the pre and post test scores for the estimated additional hours that students expected to spend in adapting to study using an online model. This hypothesis was rejected as is shown in Table 6. The pretest comments showed a general feeling that more time would be needed in the initial stages of a unit to learn, familiarise and adjust to the online environment than was allowed. The posttest comments indicated that, a considerably greater amount of time and energy than expected was expended in coping with continuous technical difficulties and learning about the software.

Although the pretest indicated that it was expected that more hours would only be needed to allow for familiarisation, the posttest showed that the hours required for this was greater than anticipated. In many cases more hours were needed for the duration of the unit because of continued technical and software difficulties and for the printing of hard copy.

The last issue investigated was the subject of student/lecturer interaction within the online teaching environment. This was assessed by means of hypothesis H₀₅ There was a difference between the average pre and posttest scores for the students’ perception of a need for the lecturer and student to be in the same (interactive) room. This hypothesis was therefore rejected as can be seen from Table 7

Comments by the students indicated that some lecturers did not respond, or only minimally reacted, to questions or discussions. The expectation of the students participating in online distance education was that of immediacy. It is not unreasonable to anticipate this, as it was touted as a virtue of the online application. In some instances the online system was not seen to provide this to the same extent as would have occurred in a normal face-to-face environment. This issue has serious implications for students learning styles, lecturers’ teaching methods, the actual application of the various technologies available to the course designers and to the nature of the interpersonal communication carried out by online lecturers with the students.

The pretest indicated a lack of concern for the presence or absence of a lecturer as long as there was some other form of viable interaction. However, the posttest showed a marked change in perception with a strong need being felt for interactive contact.

Additional Free Response Comment Evaluations

Other free response comments by the students on the pre and post test forms, yielded further insight into the difficulties which were experienced with the online system and that led to their negative orientation towards online learning as identified by the tests of the hypotheses. The implications are essentially in the assumption and definition of computer literacy, some of the prevailing pedagogical attitudes, the suitability of software, accessibility of the Internet and of lecturers to online students.

The starting developmental assumption was that anyone who was reasonably proficient in basic computing applications was computer literate. However, the presumed capacity of literacy should be examined more closely. It was found that the majority of distance students were self-taught and some had only rudimentary understanding of how computers work. Conversely, some quite experienced computer operators experienced major difficulties with the online system and those students who were competent in particular applications were, at times, just as helpless as those who could barely turn the computer on. It would appear that familiarity with certain programs and skills in specific applications are no replacement for a sound understanding of the protocols of computer mechanics. Changing the courseware has now largely rectified this, although student frustration is still being experienced by inadequate server capacity and slow response network time (Newton 2000).

At the other end of the spectrum it was apparent that there is a lack of informational organising systems knowledge. Basic techniques such as Internet researching were not understood nor was it taught. The participants did not have the time nor in many cases, the money to spend on untold hours ‘surfing’ in the hope of a lucky ‘hit’ of information. Similarly, with e-mail. Many did know how to send and receive e-mail, though just as many of them did not know how to unload a PDF or attach a file to an e-mail message. The assumption that they could do this because they had a computer and could turn it on was not valid and caused students’ major problems. Similarly, Newton's study (2000) found that a competent use to the tools used in online teaching was pivotal to the learning outcomes desired by the lecturers and the satisfaction of the students expectations.

The viability of collaborative learning activities for students, and group and team effectiveness in the case of commercial and industrial enterprises would reflect similar concerns. As in the area of academic research teams, businesses already using Intranets to communicate across their branches, their supply chain, their client base and the world are likely to be more and more used for international business team interactions (Scott 1999). It is anticipated that such interactions will probably experience similar effects to those identified through this project. These are likely to be very evident if they link people who they have not previously met, and who come from dissimilar backgrounds and cultures, into team activities. As identified in this research, there will need to be sufficient time allowed for familiarisation with the online environment, and, for the linked team members to become acquainted with each other before commencing team activities. Moreover, allowances should be made for the communications difficulties which may arise from interacting through a medium, which removes much of the normal social aspects of teamwork, message giving and receiving, and non-verbal cues. These would be the normal occurrences of body language, facial expressions and vocal tone, which would take place in a face-to-face interaction. However, this research found that despite the lack of visual and tonal contact, peer interaction provided an enjoyable and highly rated experience for the students. This suggests that there is a potential for considerable future in the area of collaborative learning and team participation in both educational and industrial application.

 Apart from competent skills in word processing and e-mail, Internet navigational and research proficiency's are almost a required prerequisite. Newton's study found that of the 60% respondents, 38% had never used discussion forums, and 41% (Newton 2000) had never accessed real-time chat rooms prior to the beginning of their online units. This stresses the importance of pre-unit instruction as the respondents cited the discussion interaction, 41%, and e-mail, 31%, as being the most valuable online tools for learning.

The second matter to be addressed was essentially attitudinal. The average age of the online students in this study was 38 years. They were not adolescents, just leaving school. They were for the most part mature, responsible adults with a wealth of knowledge and experience, who approached their covenant to higher learning seriously with commitment and often sacrifice. They deserved to be acknowledged and respected. Unfortunately, this did not always happen in their online experience. The stance of academic remoteness perhaps needs to be revisited. As with anything computerised there is an assumption of immediacy.

Online delivery of education is no different. One of the touted benefits of this model of delivery is its’ ability to break down the isolation that has long held sway over distance education. However, in order to be interactive, there needs to be responsiveness. It was apparent that any university using an online distance education delivery system will need to give their participating academics the time and resource to be responsive and interactive to the online student. It is part of the fundamental operation of this mode of tuition. It was also part of the expectation of the participating students. Similarly, the lecturers need to be prepared to give their adult learners the same respect they expect from them.

This means acknowledging their messages within a reasonably civil timeframe. In law, Silence is presumed acquiescence. Silence in business, is presumed contempt. It could be argued that many Universities are in the business of supplying a product of ‘online education’. Customer service and customer satisfaction must surely play a part in the viability of such a consumer product?

Another area for consideration is that of mounted required reading text. Dr Sheedy, a clinical professor of optometry UCLA Berkeley, states that what we see printed on our computer screens does not approach the quality of print on paper (Austen 2000). Prolonged required reading of computer monitors is not a practice that can be sustained and must eventually result in large amounts of downloading and printing, or eyestrain, headaches, and eventual abandonment ensue.

The American Optometric Association defines the problems related to over use of computer monitors as Computer Vision Syndrome. Their organisation has found that within America, 10 million primary care eye examinations are related to visual problems at the computer. The Association maintains that most studies carried out "indicate visual symptoms occur in 75-90% of computer workers" (Sheedy 1995). In a recent study released by NIOSH (Hale & Sauter - Health Hazard Evaluation Report for US West Communications), it was found that 22% of the 0+of computer workers have musculoskeletel disorders. Those users most at risk are those who have pre-existing vision or eye conditions such as accommodative (eye focusing) disorders, binocular vision (eye co-ordination) disorders, hyperopia (far-sightedness), astigmatism, wear contact lens or improper multifocal spectacles. There are possible OH & S implications here for academics, students - both online and on campus - and any in the wider community for workers who are involved in sustained periods of computer contact . These matters require serious consideration with regard to the way computer delivered distance education is applied and warrant further investigation. Lim and Lee stress there is an "urgent need for IT training for university students in order to achieve successful learning outcomes using IT and to satisfy the future needs of employers" (Lim 2000).

A recent study in California (Austen, 2000) established that the relationship between the involuntary movements of the eye as it moves across the page is accelerated when it moves across text on a flickering computer screen. This has created concern regarding the propensity of severe eye injury over time and headaches and migraines in some people in the short term. This notion supports some of the problems several of the participating students did experience, and has serious implications for the expanded use of Intranet applications across all industries. This issue is has pedagogical, industrial, legal and technical significance.

Summary

A number of issues have been addressed in this paper that may act as signposts for further or ongoing studies in this field. The fast changing scope of higher education means that students need to learn how to learn in an online environment. The past presumption that now students are entering tertiary level education, and that they will automatically shed the high school ethos and transform into self-disciplined, self-directed learners is an academic myth. To presume that twelve years of conditioning will be replaced as easily as short pants for long is arrogance. This issue has long been an indictment on both senior high school policy makers (Abbott-Chapman 1987), and academics (Carpenter 1986). Now more then ever this matter requires addressing with regard to the promoting and furtherance of computer assisted delivery of higher learning and for stemming the ever rising attrition rates of first year undergraduates. Students need to be given the tools to learn how to take responsibility for their own learning, particularly now when subject delivery is becoming increasingly mixed mode both on campus as well as externally.

It became apparent through the study, that a lack of prior familiarity with the software and the Internet imposed a restriction on the viability of online delivery of educational materials. Furthermore, the students needed time to learn and practice new skills. In other words, they needed time to assimilate, to feel ‘comfortable’ in the environment before they were required to meaningful work in it. Moreover, they needed time to gain experience in managing and pacing their time for learning and absorption of the different delivery model. It is interesting to note that the follow-up study by Newton (2000) indicated a significant improvement in the student time on task, 52% of the respondents requiring only 5% additional learning time. However, there were still 14% of the respondents needing 35% or more additional study time to learn the online tools.

The delivery model, used in this project was not enough on its own. The research study demonstrated that alternative access to the subjects' content is vital. This contention is supported in Zammit’s evaluation, Integrating On-line Learning, which found students required paper-based options with the online environment initially. However, by the end of the unit the students' familiarity and comfort with the technology increased with their knowledge and skills in using the online learning environment. Housego and Freeman point out that effective teaching outcomes can be gained if student centred learning underpins application practices (Housego 2000).  

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Copyright  

Marinka Dunlop, © 2001. The author assigns to Southern Cross University and other educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The authors also grant a non-exclusive licence to Southern Cross University to publish this document in full on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM and in printed form with the conference papers and for the document to be published on mirrors on the World Wide Web.