On-Line Course Effectiveness: An Analysis of Student Interactions and Perceptions of Learning

Nineteen on-line graduate courses were analyzed in order to determine how perceived learning varies by course and its relationship to active and passive participation by students in online discussions. Study results provided evidence that significant differences existed by course, suggesting that quality assurance is an issue in Internet-based instruction. Moreover, female students felt that they learned more than their male counterparts. Only active interaction, operationalized by the number of messages posted by students per week, was a significant predictor of perceived learning. Passive interaction, analogous to listening to but not participating in discussions and operationalized by the number of accesses to the discussion boards of the e-learning system each week, was not significant. Dix-neuf cours en ligne de deuxieme cycle ont ete analyses afin de determiner comment la perception de l’apprentissage varie selon le cours et aussi afin de definir le lien avec la participation active et passive des etudiants dans les discussions en ligne. Les resultats de l’etude ont fourni des indices sur l’existence de differences importantes selon le cours, suggerant que l’assurance de la qualite est une question importante dans la formation utilisant l’Internet. De plus, les etudiants de sexe feminin ont le sentiment d’avoir appris davantage que le pensent leurs collegues masculins. L’interaction active, operationnalisee par le nombre de messages affiches par les etudiants par semaine, etait le seul indice significatif de l’apprentissage percu. L’interaction passive, analogue a ecouter mais ne pas participer aux discussions et operationnalisee par le nombre d’acces aux forums de discussion du systeme de e-learning chaque semaine, n’etait pas significatif.

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