Which aspects of media-based courses (pure e-learning or blended-learning courses) do students experience as being favorable or as being unfavorable for learning? What expectations do they have on media-based courses? These questions were investigated in two surveys.

In survey 1, 450 students from 8 Austrian universities were interviewed about their experiences and expectations with regard to five critical didactic components of a course (cf. Ehlers et al., 2004): 1) Didactic design and presentation of the course material, 2) interaction with the tutor, 3) communication and cooperation with peer learners, 4) support of individual, self-regulated learning, 5) learning outcomes.

In a content analysis, students’ answers were categorized according to the five components and subcategories within these components. All in all, students reported distinct advantages and disadvantages of media-based courses. They emphasized the flexibility and the self-regulation of learning as well as the manifold possibilities to communicate with peers as main advantages. On the other hand, students reported dissatisfaction with the course material (e.g., a lack of clarity, the absence of exercises) and they wished more tutorial support. With regard to the learning outcomes, the possibility to acquire media competence was an important factor for the choice of a course.

How do students experience media-based courses (either pure e-learning or blended-learning courses)? Which aspects of such courses do they experience as being rather favorable for learning, which aspects do they experience as being rather unfavorable for learning? What expectations do students hold towards media-based courses with regard to motivation, communication with peers and tutors, the self-regulation of learning, or learning outcomes? These questions were investigated in two surveys in which nearly 450 students (survey 1) respectively nearly 2000 students (survey 2) from different universities in Austria took part and filled in open and standardized questionnaires.

Different aspects in the organization of a course may determine how students experience that course and what knowledge and skills they may acquire. In the present study 5 didactic components of a course were considered to be crucial for the description of learning processes (compare didactic model of Ehlers et al., 2004): 1) The didactic design and presentation of the course material; 2) the interaction with the tutor (and hence learning guidance by the tutor); 3) the communication and cooperation with peer learners (and hence the facilitation of cooperative learning); 4) the support of individual, self-regulated learning; 5) the intended learning outcomes such as knowledge of theories, practical skills, social competence, personal competence, and media competence. Each of these components can be further differentiated into aspects which are critical for learning. E.g., with regard to the didactic design of the course material, aspects such as the structure and clarity of the learning material, the presentation of information (e.g., by different types of information such as pictures, film, text material), the possibility to assess one’s knowledge acquired in the course by exercises, etc. can be distinguished.

In two studies, it was investigated how students experience learning in media-based university courses and what expectations they have on such courses.

Survey 1: In survey 1, interviews were carried out online and as paper-and-pencil interviews. Nearly 450 students who took part in a media-based university course were interviewed about their experiences in that course and about their expectations on learning with digital media in university. 147 male and 292 female students from eight universities in Austria, between 18 and 65 years old (mean age 23), and from all scientific fields (medicine, sciences, arts, humanities, engineering) took part in the study. In a content analysis, the students’ answers were categorized according to the five main didactic components and their subcategories; the frequency of answers in each subcategory was calculated.

All in all, students report very distinct advantages and disadvantages of media-based courses. A large percentage of students emphasizes the flexibility in the organization of one’s own learning processes with regard to time, place, and learning strategies and hence the self-regulation of learning as well as the manifold possibilities to communicate with peer learners as main advantages of media-based courses. On the other hand, a large percentage of students reports dissatisfaction with the course material (e.g., with regard to structure, clarity, lack of exercises) and wishes more tutorial support and advise. With regard to the learning achievements, the possibility to acquire not only knowledge in the respective subject matter but also media competence seems to be an important factor for the choice of a specific course.

Survey 2: The results of the content analysis in survey 1 served as a basis for the construction of a standardized questionnaire for survey 2. Students were to fill in a standardized questionnaire in which they were asked about their experiences in the media based course which they have been presently visiting and about their expectations on media-based courses in general. Furthermore, they were to compare learning in media-based courses to learning in traditional (on-campus) courses. Nearly 2000 students from 21 Austrian universities (at least two universities from each federal state) and from all scientific fields (medicine, sciences, arts, humanities, engineering) took part in study 2.

Again, students report very distinct advantages and disadvantages of media-based courses. First analyses indicate that overall the flexibility, the self-regulation of the learning processes but also the manifold possibilities of computer-mediated communication and cooperation are regarded as main advantages of media-based courses.

In two studies a comprehensive picture of students’ experiences and expectations on media-based university courses could be gained. A broad range of students’ experiences could be gathered as in the two studies with large sample sizes qualitative interviews as well as standardized questionnaires were employed.

One the one hand, the results found in both surveys have been expected,  e.g., that students appreciate the advantages of self-regulated learning. On the other hand, the results differ vastly from expectations. E.g., students regard aspects which in literature are often considered as obstacles for learning and as difficulties in media-based courses (e.g., Koper & Tattersall, 2005) as being rather satisfying. This concerns especially the communication and cooperation with peers. Here, students emphasize the manifold advantages and possibilities for communication and cooperation as a facilitation for their learning processes. On the other hand, students comment rather critically on the didactic quality of the learning material. It seems that the quality of media-based courses could be easily improved by a more careful design of the learning material.

Overall, the two studies give valuable recommendations for the design of media-based courses.

 

Literature:

Ehlers, U.-D., Gerteis, W., Holmer, T. & Jung, H.W. (2004). E-Learning Services in the Crossfire. Bielefeld: Bertelsmann.

Koper, R. & Tattersall, C. (2005). Learning Design. Berlin: Springer.