The Effects of the Learning Management System on Student Performance, Interaction and Course Ease of Use.!

Philippos Savvides!Arizona State University - Online

Effects of the LMS!

• Motivation of the study!•  Course creation process!•  Learning Management Systems!• Method & Results!•  Discussion

Motivation!

•  2.31 million online students in the United States in 2004.!• Make sure technologies we use are

effective.!•  Lack of literature of the effects of LMS.!•  LMS transition.

Course Development Process!

•  Rapid Design!• Gather information, design, develop.!

•  Quality Matters Rubric

Learning Management Systems!

•  Automate the administration, documentation, tracking and reporting of courses.!

•  Blackboard, Sakai, Moodle, LearningStudio (formerly eCollege) and others.

Blackboard vs. LearningStudio!

Both offer !•  Exams, adaptive release, calendar,

chat, discussion boards, gradebook, group management, document submission.

Blackboard!

LearningStudio!

Research Questions!

What is the relationship between:!

1. the LMS and student perceived ease of use?!

2. the LMS and student perceived course interaction?!

3. the LMS and student performance?

Hypothesis!

Students who participated in courses delivered in LearningStudio will report higher course interaction, ease of use, and performance.

Method!

•  58, 7-week online courses.!

•  27 in Blackboard 9; 31 in LearningStudio.!

•  1,596 students solicited!

•  796 in Blackboard; 840 in LearningStudio!

•  277 responded (17%)!

•  126 in Blackboard; 151 in LearningStudio.

Gender! Ethnicity!

College Experience!

Work Hours!

Credits Enrolled! GPA!

# of online classes!

Male!25.9%!

Caucasian!62.8%!

< 2 years!4.7%!

Do not work!20.9%!

3 - 6!12.8%!

4.0 - 3.5!44.2%!

First!0%!

Female!74.1%!

African American!8.1%!

2 years!10.1%!

< 20!19.6%!

7 -12!33.1%!

3.49 - 3.0!28.6%!

1-3!0.7%!

Hispanic!18.2%!

3 years!27.7%!

20-29!14.9%!

13 - 18!48.6%!

2.99 - 2.5!19%!

4-6!1.4%!

Asian American!2.7%!

> 3!57.4%!

30-40!19.6%!

19 - 21 !4.1%!

2.49 - 2.0!6.8%!

7-10!0%!

Native American!1.4%!

41-59!21.6%!

> 21!1.4%!

< 2.0!1.4%!

> 10!98%!

Other!6.8%!

> 60 hours!3.4%!

Student Characteristics

Perceived Ease of Use!

1. It was easy to navigate the course.!2. It was easy to communicate with the instructor.!3. It was easy to communicate with other students.!

4. It was easy to access the course materials.!5. It was easy to submit an assignment.!

6. It was easy to participate in online discussions.!7. It was easy to take quizzes and/or exams online.!8. It was easy to access the gradebook.!

9. It was easy for me to become skillful at using the online course.!

10. I found the online course easy to use.!

11. The overall usability of the online course was good. F (1,236) = 3.42, p = .98!

η2 = .01

Perceived Course Interaction!

1. My online course is setup so that I can interact with my classmates.!

2. Interaction between the instructor and students is essential to online learning.!

3. The quality of discussions in my online course is high.!

4. The lecture material in my online course is valuable to course interaction.!

5. Interaction between students is essential to online learning.!

6. The amount of interaction with other students (decreased/increased).!

7. The quality of interaction with other students (decreased/increased).!

8. The amount of interaction with the instructor (decreased/increased).!

9. The quality of interaction with the instructor (decreased/increased).

F (1,235) = 10.11, p = .002!η2 = .04

Student Performance!

1. What grade did you receive in your course?

F (1,217) = .011, p = .917!η2 = .00