Exploring the Link between Online Behaviours and Course Performance in Asynchronous Online High School Courses

As enrolment in online courses has grown and LMS data has become accessible for analysis, researchers have begun to examine the link between in-course behaviours and course outcomes. This paper explores the use of readily available LMS data generated by approximately 700 students enrolled in the 12 online courses offered by Pamoja Education, the course provider for the International Baccalaureate, in 2012–2013. The findings suggest that LMS data sets can indeed provide useful information on the relationship between online behaviours and final grades; that higher levels of online behaviours are associated with higher performance; that two types of behaviour, one associated with attendance and the other associated with interactivity, operate separately; and that these two types of behaviour function differently depending on gender.

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