How Learning Styles Impact E-Learning: A Case Comparative Study of Undergraduate Students Who Excelled, Passed, or Failed an Online Course in Scientific/Technical Writing

Abstract

Online classes appear increasingly popular, making it critical in each discipline to study the advantages and disadvantages of learning online. Following up on anecdotal impressions that scientific/technical writing students appeared to do either better or worse in an online course than an offline equivalent (unpublished data), it was decided to study the impact of learning style and experience in using the Internet on grades. The 60 students who participated in an online course on scientific/technical writing were emailed post-course evaluations which included questions on learning styles. Of these, 37 (62%) returned the evaluations, revealing a clear and significant pattern of results. While the groups did not differ in hours spent studying online, or in total hours spent online, students who excelled in online learning reported spending significantly more hours per week online for work, and less hours online contacting families/friends than students who passed or students who failed. Students who excelled differed significantly from other students in their learning strategies and study habits and frequency with which they contacted the instructor. Students who excelled in this online class appear more experienced both in working online and have study habits conducive to the online environment. Curiously, students who performed marginally or failed were more likely to rate themselves as making good use of study time, and may spend significantly longer online on assignments than the moderate students. The need to design courses that elicit specific habits or to teach students study habits specific to online learning appear critical tasks to improve the success and retention rates in online courses.

A unified perspective on the adoption of online teaching in higher education during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…This study is unprecedented from many perspectives: It studies the adoption of technology in higher education during an ongoing pandemic situation, which is still unfolding. This is a new context, and several studies have proven earlier that the context in a study is critical while framing strategies for technological adoption, especially the process of technology re-design, and adaptation by individuals and groups (Liu et al ,2020; Heilesen and Josephsen, 2008; West et al , 2006); According to Liu et al (2020), technology adoption by higher education teaching staff remains disparate and inconclusive. There was an immediate transition to shift all the existing courses in an online mode in response to the pandemic (Sangeeta and Tandon, 2020).…”

“…It studies the adoption of technology in higher education during an ongoing pandemic situation, which is still unfolding. This is a new context, and several studies have proven earlier that the context in a study is critical while framing strategies for technological adoption, especially the process of technology re-design, and adaptation by individuals and groups (Liu et al ,2020; Heilesen and Josephsen, 2008; West et al , 2006);…”

How people learn in an asynchronous online learning environment: The relationships between graduate students’ learning strategies and learning satisfaction | Comment apprennent les gens dans un environnement d’apprentissage en ligne asynchrone

“…With its unique environmental attributes and the importance of learners' learning strategies in mind, self-regulation is instrumental in making learning possible in online learning environments. In this regard, many researchers have studied learners and self-regulated learning in online learning environments (Anderton, 2006;Castaño-Muñoz, Duart, & Sancho-Vinuesa, 2014;ChanLin, 2012;Chen, 2002;Vukman & Licardo, 2010;West, Rosser, Monani, & Gurak, 2006). By and large, those studies have examined which learning strategies became effective in pursuit of academic achievement in online learning environments.…”

Differences in General Cognitive Abilities and Domain-Specific Skills of Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students in Stoichiometry

“…14 Higher-achieving students can devise strategies for problem solving and modify them as needed, 8 and higherachieving students use more symbolic representation, which is seen as an important requirement for successful problem solving in chemistry. 15 West et al 16 showed that students in a scientific writing course were more successful when they thought about their learning (i.e., metacognition). The lower-achieving students also spent more time focusing on solving the easy problems and eschewing the difficult problems.…”