2008 - dr. yair levy – chais 2008, israel – february 6, 2008. 1 towards an empirical development...

2008 - Dr. Yair Levy – Chais 2008, Israel – February 6, 2008. 1

Towards an Empirical Development of Towards an Empirical Development of Critical Value Factors of Online Critical Value Factors of Online

Learning ActivitiesLearning Activities

By:

Yair LevyYair LevyNova Southeastern University


Statement of the problemStatement of the problem

• Online learning central stage in higher educational institutions (Geri & Gefen, 2007; Hiltz & Turoff, 2005)*

• Dropout from online learning courses appears to remains a problem (Connolly et al., 2007; Levy,

2007; Xenos et al., 2002)

• Increasing attention to assessment of the effectiveness and success

• Little attention to the learners’ perceived value or what is important to the learners

* For references throughout this presentation, please see the full list in proceedings’ paper


Theoretical BackgroundTheoretical Background

• Activities are at the center of human behavior (Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975)

• General Activity Theory– Activities (Hasan & Carwford, 2003) – Learning activities (Lapre et al., 2000)

– Online learning activities (Levy, 2006b)


Activity Theory in the Context of Online LearningActivity Theory in the Context of Online Learning

Subjects (Learners)

Actions & Operations

Learning Outcome

Online Learning System & Tools

ONLINE LEARNING ACTIVITY

Source: Levy, Y. (2006b). The top 10 most valuable online learning activities for graduate MIS students. International Journal of Information and Communication Technology Education, 2(3), 27-44.


Methodology & Survey Instrument Methodology & Survey Instrument

• Based on the qualitative work in Levy (2006b)

– A list of activities that learners value during their online learning experience (some eliminated in this study for lack of content and external validity)

• Survey Instrument with 45 online learning activities + demographics

• A 6-point Likert-type scale– (1) – ‘Not Important’ to– (6) – ‘Extremely Important’

• 209 participants (36% response rate)


Data Analyses and Results Data Analyses and Results

Descriptive Statistics and Dempgraphics of StudentsItem Frequency Percentage (%)GenderMale 149 71.3%Female 60 28.7%

Age18 or under 1 0.5%19-24 8 3.8%25-29 31 14.8%30-34 36 17.2%35-39 49 23.4%40-44 33 15.8%45-54 40 19.1%55-59 9 4.3%60 or older 2 1.0%


Data Analyses and Results (Cont.)Data Analyses and Results (Cont.)

Descriptive Statistics and Dempgraphics of Students (Cont.)Item Frequency Percentage (%)

Number of previous e-learning courses takenNone, this was my first 21 10.0%1 8 3.8%2 9 4.3%3 18 8.6%4 13 6.2%5 to 9 68 32.5%10 or more 72 34.4%

Weekly hours for work/jobNo, I'm not working 9 4.3%Less than 20 6 2.9%20 to 29 4 1.9%30 to 39 16 7.7%40 to 49 113 54.1%50 to 59 42 20.1%60 or more 19 9.1%



Critical Value Factors of Online Learning ActivitiesFactor's Alpha

Item# Factor 1 2 3 4 5 if item DeletedA26 0.762831 0.837A27 0.668098 0.842A48 0.650156 0.850A08 0.62844 0.850A38 0.620318 0.855A19 0.609754 0.858A11 0.597744 0.848A35 0.578775 0.847A18 0.530789 0.857A12 0.520988 0.852A16 0.680631 0.756A22 0.666783 0.767A07 0.635989 0.773A14 0.58816 0.763A42 0.577751 0.787A06 0.540825 0.786A28 0.510556 0.793A17 0.509988 0.785A34 0.45024 0.785Varimax PCA Rotated Component Matrix (n=209)

Cronbach's Alpha ---> 0.863 0.797

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Critical Value Factors of Online Learning ActivitiesFactor's Alpha

Item# Factor 1 2 3 4 5 if item DeletedA10 0.768757 0.807A15 0.764494 0.814A02 0.732311 0.818A01 0.706016 0.836A09 0.554658 0.828A13 0.466229 0.842A20 0.436946 0.845A45 0.722958 0.703A46 0.697394 0.708A47 0.668566 0.717A43 0.527168 0.740A49 0.524063 0.747A41 0.507784 0.741A50 0.421351 0.760

A36 0.892647 0.844A37 0.868082 0.868A30 0.827896 0.899Varimax PCA Rotated Component Matrix (n=209)

Cronbach's Alpha ---> 0.848 0.761 0.910

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ResultsResults

• Five critical value factors of online learning activities:

– F1: Collaborative, Social, and Passive Learning Activities

– F2: Formal Communication Activities

– F3: Formal Learning Activities

– F4: Logistic Activities

– F5: Printing Activities


Results (Cont.)Results (Cont.)

Items of F1 - Collaborative, Social, and Passive Learning Activities

Item# Item DescriptionA26 Participating in chat sessions (unofficial with other students)A27 Sharing my assignments with the other students (via discussion forum)A48 Sharing my assignments with the other students (via e-mail)A08 Participating in chat sessions (official sessions with the professor)A38 Participating in live voice-chat sessions (i.e.- elluminate, PlaceWare, etc.)A19 Reviewing chapters slides onlineA11 Sending e-mails to other studentsA35 Reading other students' assignments (via discussion forum)A18 Listening to course's audios onlineA12 Reading e-mails from other students



Items of F2 - Formal Communication Activities

Item# Item DescriptionA16 Reading e-mails from the professorA22 Reviewing professor's feedback on assignments (online)A07 Sending e-mails to the professorA14 Reading the professor's discussion forum messagesA42 Reading information off the school's siteA06 Checking grades onlineA28 Register for courses onlineA17 Reading assignments' guidelines onlineA34 Checking "myWebCT" for course(s)' updates



Items of F3 - Formal Learning Activities

Item# Item DescriptionA10 Replying to students' discussion forum messages A15 Posting new discussion forum messagesA02 Reading other students' discussion forum messagesA01 Submitting course(s)' assignments onlineA09 Reviewing other students' personal websitesA13 Developing personal website, profile, or blogA20 Replying to professor's discussion forum messages


Item# Item Description

A36 Printing assignments' guidelinesA37 Printing other course documents (besides assignments)A30 Printing course syllabus


Items of F4 - Logistic ActivitiesItem# Item DescriptionA45 Download course syllabusA46 Download assignments' guidelinesA47 Download chapters slidesA43 Purchasing software for course(s) onlineA49 Upload assignments and course related files to an online storage siteA41 Purchasing books, textbook and other course related literature onlineA50 Purchase school's memorabilia, clothing, etc. online

Items of F5 - Printing Activities


Discussion and Conclusions Discussion and Conclusions

• Five CVFs of online learning activities

• Administrators and instructors should pay more attention to these factors

• Instructors should emphasize: – Students’ collaboration, participation in social

activities, passive learning of content, formal communications, and formal learning activities.

• Help reduce student frustration and dropout from OL courses


Thank you!Thank you!

• Questions?


Yair Levy, Ph.D. Associate ProfessorNova Southeastern UniversityGraduate School of Computer and Information SciencesThe DeSantis Building - Room 40583301 College AvenueFort Lauderdale, FL 33314Tel.: 954-262-2006 Fax: 954-262-3915

E-mail: [email protected]

Site: http://scis.nova.edu/~levyy/

Contact Information - LevyContact Information - Levy


International Journal of Doctoral Studies (IJDS)International Journal of Doctoral Studies (IJDS)

http://www.ijds.org/

Mission:The mission of the International Journal of Doctoral Studies (IJDS) is to provide readers worldwide with high quality peer-reviewed scholarly articles on a wide variety of issues in doctoral studies using the Informing Science (IS) framework. The editorial objective of IJDS is the facilitation of knowledge enhancement related to doctoral studies in areas such as (but not limited to): informing science, information systems, information technology, information

science, information security, and IT education.

Yair Levy, Editor-in-Chief ([email protected])

2008 - dr. yair levy – chais 2008, israel – february 6, 2008. 1 towards an empirical development...

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