Theses and Dissertations

Minyan He

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Olinzock, Anthony A.

Committee Member

Du, Jianxia

Committee Member

Beriswill, Joanne E.

Committee Member

Prince, Debra L.

Date of Degree

8-17-2013

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Major

Instructional Systems and Workforce Development

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

College

College of Education

Department

Department of Instructional Systems and Workforce Development

Abstract

As online learning is an important part of higher education, the effectiveness of online learning has been tested with different methods. Although the literature regarding online learning effectiveness has been related to various factors, a more comprehensive review of the factors may result in broader understanding of online learning effectiveness. Therefore the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship among online learning effectiveness, interactivity, collaboration, communication media, and group trust. A student survey based on online learning effectiveness, interactivity, collaboration, communication media, group trust, and demographic information was used in this study. All these variables were used as predictor variables. A total of 401 responses were received during summer 2013 from a southeastern university. Different models were compared by using multiple linear regression. Results of the best predicting model showed interactivity was the strongest predictor of online learning effectiveness, followed by previous online grades, age, employment status, number of online courses taken, and ethnicity. These predictors explained 38% of the variances in online learning effectiveness. Findings of this study provide valuable information for online instructors and university administrators.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/20184

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