The Determinants of Students' Perceived Learning Outcomes and Satisfaction in University Online Education: An Empirical Investigation*

In this study, structural equation modeling is applied to examine the determinants of students' satisfaction and their perceived learning outcomes in the context of university online courses. Independent variables included in the study are course structure, instructor feedback, self‐motivation, learning style, interaction, and instructor facilitation as potential determinants of online learning. A total of 397 valid unduplicated responses from students who have completed at least one online course at a university in the Midwest were used to examine the structural model. The results indicated that all of the antecedent variables significantly affect students' satisfaction. Of the six antecedent variables hypothesized to affect the perceived learning outcomes, only instructor feedback and learning style are significant. The structural model results also reveal that user satisfaction is a significant predictor of learning outcomes. The findings suggest online education can be a superior mode of instruction if it is targeted to learners with specific learning styles (visual and read/write learning styles) and with timely, meaningful instructor feedback of various types.     

A predictive study of learner satisfaction and outcomes in face-to-face,satellite broadcast,and live video-streaming learning environments

This study was conducted to assess the predictive relationships among delivery mode (DM), self-perceived learner-to-teacher interaction, self-rated computer skill, prior distance learning experience, and learners' satisfaction and outcomes. Participants were enrolled in courses which used three different DMs: face-to-face, satellite broadcasting, and live video-streaming (LVS). In each case, the course was offered simultaneously by the same teacher via all three formats. The results indicated no predictive utility of delivery mode for self-perceived learner-to-teacher interaction. On the other hand, the results supported the validity of self-perceived learner-to-teacher interaction as a predictor for student satisfaction and learning outcomes (measured by course final grades). To a lesser extent, self-rated computer skills and the number of distance learning courses taken played a weak role in learning outcomes and students' satisfaction. Overall, findings from the study support prior research that has reported the importance of learner-to-teacher interaction in learning outcomes and satisfaction of distance education students.     

Measuring active learning to predict course quality

This study investigated whether active learning within computer‐based training courses can be measured and whether it serves as a predictor of learner‐perceived course quality. A major corporation participated in this research, providing access to internal employee training courses, training representatives, and historical course evaluation data. Twenty sample courses were subdivided into 1,884 time‐based instructional events and categorized by eight design principles for learner engagement: attend, organize, recall, practice, interact, apply, explore, and absorb. This analysis produces a quantitative pattern for the cognitive activity a course encourages within the learner, summarized as the active learning index. A regression model, with the active learning index as a predictor variable for learner‐perceived course quality, resulted in a correlation coefficient of .83 (r²=.69) and a p‐value <.0001. These results suggest a framework for quantifying the active learning components in computer‐based training courses and guiding the work of instructional designers toward higher‐quality courses.     

Predicting student satisfaction and perceived learning within online learning environments

Student satisfaction is used as one of the key elements to evaluate online courses, while perceived learning is considered as an indicator of learning. This study aimed to explore how online learning self-efficacy (OLSE), learner–content interaction (LCI), learner–instructor interaction (LII), and learner–learner interaction (LLI) can predict student satisfaction and perceived learning. A total of 167 students participated in this study. Regression results revealed that the overall model with all four predictor variables (OLSE, LCI, LII, and LLI) was significantly predictive of satisfaction and perceived learning. The study found that LCI was the strongest and most significant predictor of student satisfaction, while OLSE was the strongest and most significant predictor of perceived learning. However, LLI was not predictive of student satisfaction and perceived learning. This study suggests that instructors employ strategies that enhance students’ OLSE, LCI, and LII. Research is needed to understand how LLI fosters student learning and satisfaction.     

Factors affecting perceived learning of engineering students in problem based learning supported by business simulation

Although literature about problem based learning (PBL) is not scarce, there is little research on experiences about learning methodologies that combine PBL and the use of simulation tools. This lack of studies is even more notable in the case of engineering courses. The motivation for this study is to show how such a combination of PBL and simulation has been designed in a group work course for engineers and to analyze how the underlying factors of this methodology are related to perceived learning. This exploratory study focuses on how perceived enjoyment, interaction, collaborative learning, perceived satisfaction, and time dedicated to the course affect the learning perceived by the students in an engineer's degree course. The outcomes of this pilot study show that only three of these factors (satisfaction, time dedication, and collaborative learning) affect the students' perceived learning. Despite the high ratings obtained for interaction and perceived enjoyment, no significant relation between these factors and perceived learning was found. The reasons behind these findings are discussed.     

The impact of individual differences on e‐learning system satisfaction: A contingency approach

This study investigated the impact of contingent variables on the relationship between four predictors and students' satisfaction with e‐learning. Five hundred and twenty‐two university students from 10 intact classes engaging in online instruction were asked to answer questionnaires about their learning styles, perceptions of the quality of the proposed predictors and satisfaction with e‐learning systems. The results of analysis of variance and structural equation modelling analyses showed that two contingent variables, gender and job status, significantly influenced the perceptions of predictors and students' satisfaction with the e‐learning system. This study also found a statistically significant moderating effect of two contingent variables, student job status and learning styles, on the relationship between predictors and e‐learning system satisfaction. The results suggest that a serious consideration of contingent variables is crucial for improving e‐learning system satisfaction. The implications of these results for the management of e‐learning systems are discussed.     

Learning style,sense of community and learning effectiveness in hybrid learning environment

The purpose of this study is to investigate how hybrid learning instruction affects undergraduate students' learning outcome, satisfaction and sense of community. The other aim of the present study is to examine the relationship between students' learning style and learning conditions in mixed online and face-to-face courses. A quasi-experimental design was used and 140 sophomores were recruited in this study. Students' learning outcomes, satisfaction, sense of community and learning styles were measured. Results showed that students in a hybrid course had significantly higher learning scores and satisfaction than did students of the face-to-face courses. The result also indicated that students of hybrid learning classrooms felt a stronger sense of community than did students in a traditional classroom setting. Analysis of learning style indicated that learning style had significant effect on learning outcome in the study group. Accommodator learners had higher e-learning effectiveness than other style learners. Possible reasons of results were discussed.     

Relationships among sense of classroom community,perceived cognitive learning and satisfaction of students at an e-learning course

This study aims to determine whether there is a relationship between students' sense of community, perceived cognitive learning, and satisfaction in an e-learning course. Additionally, the relationship of these variables with Internet self-efficacy and final examination scores is investigated. The participants were 88 students enrolled in elementary level English as a Foreign Language course of the distance education program at a higher education institution in Turkey. The results of the study suggest that sense of community and course satisfactions are strongly related to each other. Moreover, students' course satisfaction is highly related to their perceived cognitive learning. Students' perceived cognitive learning was observed to have a very strong relationship with learner-to-content interaction, while learner-to-learner interaction was at medium level and learner-to-instructor interaction was weak.     

Empirical assessment of college student-athletes' persistence in e-learning courses: A case study of a U.S. National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) institution

In recent years, the application of Information Technologies (IT) has fostered a tremendous growth in e-learning courses at colleges and universities in the United States. Subsequently, some colleges and universities have reported dropout rates of over 60% in e-learning courses. This research investigated persistence in e-learning courses of 187 college student-athletes. To predict the persistence of college student-athletes enrolled in e-learning courses, a conceptual model was proposed and assessed based on students' factors. The factors investigated included students' attitude toward computers, students' intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, students' perceived satisfaction, and students' previous academic performance measures (high school grade point average (GPA) and Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) score). These factors have previously shown tendencies toward persistence in e-learning courses. Results of this study indicate that students' high school GPA was a significant predictor of e-learning course persistence for college student-athletes.     

E‐Learning Takes the Lead: An Empirical Investigation of Learner Differences in Online and Classroom Delivery

ABSTRACT Outcomes and mediators of differences in online and traditional course delivery were tested with a sample of 112 graduate students who completed an introductory course in training and development. Specifically, the individual learner characteristics of self‐efficacy, motivation, goal orientation, and meta‐cognition and their effects on success through online delivery were examined. The study also addressed three outcomes: trainees' reactions to that program, their learning, and subsequent planned changes in job behavior. The findings indicate that online learners have significantly more positive reaction levels of enjoyment and utility and significantly stronger intent to transfer their learning. Online students find the coursework more difficult, but there was no significant difference in learning based on delivery mode. Implications for both managers and educators involved in online learning are discussed.     

Engaging in science practices in classrooms predicts increases in undergraduates' STEM motivation,identity, and achievement: A short-term longitudinal study

Our short-term longitudinal study explored undergraduate students' experiences with performing authentic science practices in the classroom in relation to their science achievement and course grades. In addition, classroom experiences (felt recognition as a scientist and perceived classroom climate) and changes over a 10-week academic term in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) identity and motivation were tested as mediators. The sample comprised 1,079 undergraduate students from introductory biology classrooms (65.4% women, 37.6% Asian, 30.2% White, 25.1% Latinx). Using structural equation modeling (SEM), our hypothesized model was confirmed while controlling for class size and GPA. Performing science practices (e.g., hypothesizing or explaining results) positively predicted students' felt recognition as a scientist; and felt recognition positively predicted perceived classroom climate. In turn, felt recognition and classroom climate predicted increases over time in students' STEM motivation (expectancy-value beliefs), STEM identity, and STEM career aspirations. Finally, these factors predicted students' course grade. Both recognition as a scientist and positive classroom climate were more strongly related to outcomes among underrepresented minority (URM) students. Findings have implications for why large-format courses that emphasize opportunities for students to learn science practices are related to positive STEM outcomes, as well as why they may prove especially helpful for URM students. Practical implications include the importance of recognition as a scientist from professors, teaching assistants, and classmates in addition to curriculum that engages students in the authentic practices of science.     

University students' behavioral intention to use mobile learning: Evaluating the technology acceptance model

As many Korean universities have recommended the implementation of mobile learning (m‐learning) for various reasons, the number of such tertiary learning opportunities has steadily grown. However, little research has investigated the factors affecting university students' adoption and use of m‐learning. A sample of 288 Konkuk university students participated in the research. The process by which students adopt m‐learning was explained using structural equation modeling technique and the Linear Structural Relationship (LISREL) program. The general structural model based on the technology acceptance model included m‐learning self‐efficacy, relevance for students' major (MR), system accessibility, subjective norm (SN), perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude (AT), and behavioral intention to use m‐learning. The study results confirmed the acceptability of the model to explain students' acceptance of m‐learning. M‐learning AT was the most important construct in explaining the causal process in the model, followed by students' MR and SN.     

Processes Involving Perceived Instructional Support,Task Value,and Engagement in Graduate Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relations among perceived instructional support (provision of relevance and involvement), subjective task value beliefs (utility, attainment, and intrinsic value), and engagement (behavioral and emotional) over the course of a semester for graduate students enrolled in an introductory research methods course in a college of education (N = 217). Structural equation modeling (SEM) results suggested that each source of perceived support exerted unique influence on students' beliefs about utility value, intrinsic value, and attainment value of their research methods coursework. In turn, midsemester value beliefs predicted semester-end student reports of behavioral and cognitive engagement. Direct and indirect effects between perceived provisions of support and engagement were inconsistent. This study supports the notion that different patterns of predictors and outcomes may occur for different aspects of value beliefs and that multiple sources of instructional support are important for supporting student motivation for adult learners.     

An Investigation of the Profiles of Satisfying and Dissatisfying Factors in E‐Learning

ABSTRACT Various factors influence e‐learners' feelings of satisfaction and dissatisfaction with their e‐learning experience, but from an extensive search with six major academic research databases we did not find any research that demonstrated comprehensive profiles of satisfying and dissatisfying factors in e‐learning. We conducted a qualitative study to initiate the effort. We used Thorndike's law of effect and Herzberg's motivation‐hygiene theory as the conceptual frameworks for our study. Thorndike's law of effect applied to human psychology suggests that people would try to avoid annoying stimuli whereas they would try to preserve satisfying stimuli. Herzberg's motivation‐hygiene theory suggests that different factors influence extreme satisfaction and extreme dissatisfaction on the job. Using the two theories as the conceptual frameworks, we revealed profiles of satisfaction‐dissatisfaction factors in e‐learning by analyzing extant data of course evaluation obtained from 17 e‐learning courses. In this article, we provide recommendations on how other e‐learning institutions might utilize the research findings to optimize their e‐learning programs and we discuss the potential impact of such interventions on overall institutional outcomes such as learner retention.     

Relationships between social support sources and early adolescents' mental health: The moderating effect of student achievement level

This study examined how perceived social support from parents, classmates, and teachers jointly and uniquely predicted psychopathology (i.e., internalizing and externalizing symptoms) and wellness (i.e., life satisfaction) in a sample of 390 middle‐school students. This study also explored the protective nature of high student academic achievement in the relationship between social support and mental health. Social support was a significant predictor of all mental health outcomes, particularly life satisfaction. Although classmate and teacher support were significant unique predictors of students' internalizing and externalizing symptoms, respectively, parent support emerged as the strongest predictor of all indicators of mental health. Academic achievement moderated the direction and strength of the relationships between externalizing behavior and (a) classmate support, and (b) parent support, respectively. Specifically, classmate support emerged as adaptive for average‐ and high‐achieving students only, whereas academic achievement functioned as a protective factor against the manifestation of externalizing psychopathology among students with low parental support. Implications for school psychologists and directions for future research are discussed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Investigating learner attitudes toward e-books as learning tools: based on the activity theory approach

This paper investigates the use of e-books as learning tools in terms of learner satisfaction, usefulness, behavioral intention, and learning effectiveness. Based on the activity theory approach, this research develops a research model to understand learner attitudes toward e-books in two physical sizes: 10″ and 7″. Results suggest that screen size could affect learners' perceived self-efficacy in using 10″ and 7″ e-books. Interactive learning environments, acceptable screen size, perceived self-regulation, and self-efficacy could positively influence perceived satisfaction with and usefulness of e-books as learning tools. Perceived satisfaction and usefulness are crucial factors in learner behavioral intention which, in turn, contributes to learning effectiveness. The paper also proposes a conceptual research model based on the activity theory approach.     

Affective Learning in Online Multimedia and Lecture Versions of an Introductory Computing Course

This study evaluated students' affective learning in an introductory computing course that was taught in Hong Kong once in a lecture format and twice in a rich interactive multimedia online format to 414 college students in all. A simplified experience sampling method was used to assess affective learning at the midterm and end of each course in terms of intrinsic engagement (positive affect, perceived challenges, perceived skills in course activities), extrinsic engagement (performance expectations, performance goals, performance self‐efficacy), and negative affect in course activities. Controlling for students' computing background and pre‐enrollment academic ability, multivariate analysis of covariance indicated that, compared to lectures, e‐learning modules fostered more intrinsic engagement, comparable extrinsic engagement, and more negative affect. Findings suggest directions for developing online courses that optimise both cognitive learning and affective learning.     

Differential effects of three professional development models on teacher knowledge and student achievement in elementary science

To identify links among professional development, teacher knowledge, practice, and student achievement, researchers have called for study designs that allow causal inferences and that examine relationships among features of interventions and multiple outcomes. In a randomized experiment implemented in six states with over 270 elementary teachers and 7,000 students, this project compared three related but systematically varied teacher interventions—Teaching Cases, Looking at Student Work, and Metacognitive Analysis—along with no‐treatment controls. The three courses contained identical science content components, but differed in the ways they incorporated analysis of learner thinking and of teaching, making it possible to measure effects of these features on teacher and student outcomes. Interventions were delivered by staff developers trained to lead the teacher courses in their regions. Each course improved teachers' and students' scores on selected‐response science tests well beyond those of controls, and effects were maintained a year later. Student achievement also improved significantly for English language learners in both the study year and follow‐up, and treatment effects did not differ based on sex or race/ethnicity. However, only Teaching Cases and Looking at Student Work courses improved the accuracy and completeness of students' written justifications of test answers in the follow‐up, and only Teaching Cases had sustained effects on teachers' written justifications. Thus, the content component in common across the three courses had powerful effects on teachers' and students' ability to choose correct test answers, but their ability to explain why answers were correct only improved when the professional development incorporated analysis of student conceptual understandings and implications for instruction; metacognitive analysis of teachers' own learning did not improve student justifications either year. Findings suggest investing in professional development that integrates content learning with analysis of student learning and teaching rather than advanced content or teacher metacognition alone. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 333–362, 2012     

The Relationship of Supervisory Styles to Satisfaction With Supervision and the Perceived Self‐Efficacy of Master's‐Level Counseling Students

The purpose of this study was to determine whether supervisors' supervisory styles are related to master's‐level counseling students' satisfaction with supervision and their perceived self‐efficacy. Multiple regression analyses of data obtained for 82 participants indicated that particular supervisory styles were significant predictors of supervisees' satisfaction with supervision and perceived self‐efficacy. Findings can be used to enhance the training of supervisors.