Online Education: The How, Who, Where, and When

Abstract

Undergraduate students completed an online tutorial to investigate the impact of the method of presentation on performance, the relationship between personality characteristics and performance, and where and when students complete the tutorial. Performance on the posttest was not significantly different whether students reviewed the animated video or recorded PowerPoint presentation, but performance improved in both conditions from the pretest scores. Contrary to expectation, personality was not related to performance on the posttest. Students generally completed the tutorial in a private space such as a bedroom or dorm room and there was no specific time of day when students were more likely to complete the tutorial. These data suggest that the method of presenting the tutorial might be less important than the use of elaborative inquiry to focus the students’ attention onto critical aspects of the material and to have students think critically about the subject matter. In addition, it is possible that the use of elaborative inquiry might reduce the relationship between personality and success in online learning.

Environmental Design, Personality, and Online Learning

“…The students using the PPT tutorial did not see the elaborative interrogation items until manually moving through the PPT slides. This result also does not corroborate Stone's (2017) finding that students responding completely online performed best using the PPT presentation. More research is needed to better understand the benefits of video and PPT presentations for different types of course content.…”

“…Learning materials. A lecture on how to validate employment selection tests based on the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Civil Service Commission, Department of Labor, & Department of Justice, 1978) was created by Stone (2017). Using PowerPoint (PPT), the lesson included bulleted points, as well as text boxes and graphics (e.g., arrows).…”

“…Online courses, which are not constrained to brick and mortar classrooms, allow students to be anywhere while interacting electronically with the course material, other students, and instructors. Instructors of online courses are concerned with the method of course content delivery, which could include the use of animation (e.g., Dunsworth & Atkinson, 2007), audio narration (e.g., Johnson & Rubin, 2011), elaborative interrogation (e.g., Dornisch & Sperling, 2006), video (e.g., Merkt & Schwan, 2014), or just prepared PowerPoint slides (e.g., Stone, 2017). Except during proctored testing, instructors do not have control over the environment in which students are experiencing what might be considered the classroom experience.…”

“…Although we know that ubiquitous work environments should be comfortable, have a sense of place, and support the appropriate level of communication needed for the task (Robertson et al, 2015), we know little about what an effectively designed learning environment is for online students. According to Stone (2017), on campus students completed online lessons in areas of convenience, such as their residence hall or living room, which could include having other people in the vicinity. Even though educators do not control these online student learning environments, it is important to understand how the modes of delivery, learner personality, and different facets of the environment (e.g., color, windows) interact and affect learning in order to make recommendations for success in online courses.…”

Understanding Learning Environments, Personality, and Proctoring During Mandatory Remote Delivery

“…The actual space in which an online student works might also impact performance. When students completed a research study online, Stone (2017) found that just over 55% of the students reported being in a dorm room or the residence hall, with the next most frequent response being a house (18%). The specific room indicated by over 80% of the students was either their bedroom or living room.…”