New study on online learning carried out by J’pura University
View(s):A study has been carried out to find out the student satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study was carried out by Dr. Sujeewa Hettiarachchi, Prof. B.W.R. Damayanthi, Prof. Shirantha Heenkenda and Prof. Lalith Ananda from
the University of Sri Jayewardenepura’s International Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies in collaboration with Dr. D.M.S.L.B. Dissanayake and Dr. Manjula Ranagalage from the Department of Environmental Management, at the Rajarata University.
“We found that learner motivation, and teacher-student, student-student and student-content interactions had a significant impact on student satisfaction in online learning,” Dr. SujeewaHettiarachchi, the Director of the International Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, said.
The study to explore the determinants of student satisfaction in online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic online learning was conducted among 1376 undergraduates enrolled in various Humanities and Social sciences courses at three state universities in Sri Lanka, an official from the Sri Jayewardenepura University said.
This study was initiated by the International Centre for Multidisciplinary Studies and the results were published in Sustainability, a journal indexed in Web of Science and SCOPUS, the official added.
Among the three variables, learner motivation was found to exert the strongest effect on students’ satisfaction, implying the crucial role self-regulated learning—characterised by motivation—plays in online learning environments.
“This finding is not surprising given that in online learning, unlike in face-to-face learning, learners are left with the additional responsibility of their learning. As a result, self-regulated learning plays an important role in its success. While motivation holds the key in self-regulated learning, self-regulated learners, in contrast to others, tend to develop an independent learning style, display self-directed behaviour and have an internal locus of control of their learning. Thus, online learners are generally assumed to be self-motivated, and this makes them naturally become more satisfied with their learning,” the paper with the results from the study reads.
The study found that various challenges that students face in their online learning decreases their satisfaction. Nevertheless, the mere existence of challenges may not always hamper student motivation in online education as distance learners are naturally more self-resilient and motivated.
Finally, the study found that poor interaction (teacher-student, student-student and student-content) leads to decreased student satisfaction in online learning.
“Even though interaction is a determinant of student success and satisfaction in any mode of learning, it seems to have extra significance in online learning. This may be because rich student-student and lecturer-student interaction can alleviate the feeling of isolation that many students are supposed to experience in online learning spaces,” said Dr. SujeewaHettiarachchi.
The further details could be obtained from: www.sjp.ac.lk