Towards an electronic independent learning environment for statistics in higher education

This study focuses on the feasibility of implementing independent learning in a traditional university and the feasibility of providing this independent learning by means of an electronic interactive learning environment. The target group contained students enrolled in an applied statistics course at the Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences at the University of Gent (RUG). Three experimental variables were designed: learning environment, delivery and support. This created five different learning conditions to which subjects were assigned at random. The present study gives empirical evidence that an electronic-based independent learning environment with discernible support devices can take its place in a traditional university setting. Our results indicate that the cognitive outcomes of students' learning in a computer-based environment are neither fostered nor hindered by attitudes towards computers. The merely cognitive aspect of attitude towards computers, i.e., ‘interest in learning about computers’, affects the perception of structure in the materials; more interested students have a better perception of structure. Students with better prior knowledge and having fewer problems with statistics have a better perception of the learning access to the contents. In order to construct electronic learning environments, further investigation is needed into ‘student characteristics’ interacting with ‘learning environment characteristics’, and this is currently in progress by our group.