1. An Analysis of Successful Online Behaviors Across Disciplines Catherine Finnegan, University System of Georgia Libby V. Morris, University of Georgia Kangjoo Lee, University of Georgia July 2007

2. The Institute of Higher Education 2 Purpose of Research To learn more about student engagement in the online environment through an analysis of participation in online courses.

3. The Institute of Higher Education 3 Research Questions What are the differences and similarities between completers and withdrawers in various measures of student behavior online across disciplinary areas? How accurately can achievement be predicted from online student participation measures across disciplinary areas?

4. The Institute of Higher Education 4 Variables Participation –Engaging in activities that may lead to learning. viewing course content viewing discussions creating new discussion posts responding to discussion posts

5. The Institute of Higher Education 5 Variables Persistence –Remaining in course throughout a semester; not withdrawing through official means. Achievement –Receiving a transferable grade in a course; generally A, B, or C

6. The Institute of Higher Education 6 Methodology Access log for each student in each section analyzed. Students coded as successful completer, non- successful completer or withdrawer. Number of content pages viewed, discussion posts viewed, original posts created and follow- up posts created were calculated. Time (seconds, hours) on tasks was calculated.

7. The Institute of Higher Education 7 Online Setting: eCore® Fully online, collaboratively developed, core curriculum courses offered jointly by institutions in the University System of Georgia. Supported by University System. Courses include the humanities, languages, social sciences, mathematics, and sciences. Over 25 courses and 2,000 enrollments in Spring semester 2007 http://www.gactr.uga.edu/ecore/

8. The Institute of Higher Education 8 Research Population N=2,681 Philosophy, History, Social Science HIST 1111 World History I HIST 2111 U.S. History I PHIL 1001 Intro to Philosophy PSYC 1101 Intro to Gen Psychology POLS 1101 American Government SOCI 1101 Intro to Sociology 1357 Math, Science, Technology MATH 1101 Intro to Math. Modeling MATH 1111 College Algebra MATH 1113 Pre-calculus MATH 1401 Intro to Statistics MATH 1501 Calculus I CHEM 1211K Principles of Chemistry I GEOL 1011K Introductory Geosciences I ISCI 1121 Integrated Science I PHYS1211K Principles of Physics I and Lab PHYS1212K Principles of Physics II and Lab ETEC 1101 Electronic Technology in Educational Environment 562 n=762 COMM 1100 Human Communications ENGL 1101 English Composition I ENGL 1102 English Composition II ENGL 2111 World Literature ENGL 2132 American Literature n=1,357 HIST 1111 World History I HIST 2111 U.S. History I PHIL 1001 Philosophy PSYC 1101 Psychology POLS 1101 American Government SOCI 1101 Sociology n=562 MATH 1101 Math. Modeling MATH 1111 College Algebra MATH 1113 Pre-calculus MATH 1401 Statistics MATH 1501 Calculus I CHEM 1211 Chemistry I GEOL 1011 Geosciences I ISCI 1121 Integrated Science I PHYS1211K Physics I PHYS1212K Physics II ETEC 1101 English & Communications History & Social Science Science & Mathematics

9. The Institute of Higher Education 9 Demographics 28% Male 28% Minority 44% Non-traditional 28% Withdrew 22% Completed, but not successful

10. The Institute of Higher Education 10 Comparison by Discipline: Content Content Pages ViewedDiscussions Viewed

11. The Institute of Higher Education 11 Comparison by Discipline: Discussions Original Posts CreatedFollow-up Posts Created

12. The Institute of Higher Education 12 Average Time on Task by Discipline Viewing Content Viewing Discussions Creating Original Posts Creating Follow-up Posts English/ Communications 3 hours5 hours<1 hour History/ Social Sciences 5 hour5.6 hour<1 hour Science/ Mathematics 5.5 hours2 hours<1 hour

13. The Institute of Higher Education 13 One-Way ANOVA Completers had more frequent activity and spent more time on task on all 4 measures than unsuccessful completers and withdrawers (p<.001). Withdrawers spent significantly less time and had less frequent activity than completers on all 4 measures (p<.001).

14. The Institute of Higher Education 14 Multiple Regression Model for Impact of Participation on Achievement Successful and Non-Successful Completers n = 1,922

15. The Institute of Higher Education 15 Multiple Regression: Analysis Dependent Variable: Course Grade * p<.05, ** p<.01 English & Communication History & Social Science Science & Mathematics Explained % (R square) n=551 29.6 n=1,010 30.9 n=363 38.7 βββ Number of Discussion Viewed 0.00 0.18**-0.03 Number of Pages Viewed 0.10 0.11*0.21* Number of Original Posts -0.07 0.18**0.17* Number of Follow-up Posts 0.20**0.11*0.10 Seconds on Discussions Viewed 0.38**0.08 0.16 Seconds on Content Pages 0.12 0.07 0.19* Seconds on original posts -0.04 0.00 0.03 Seconds on follow up posts -0.13*0.05 -0.03

16. The Institute of Higher Education 16 Findings: Multiple Regression The overall participation model explained 29.7% of the variability in achievement. 5 of 8 variables were significant at the p<.001 level and 1 variable at the p<.05 level and good predictors of successful completion (achievement/grades) overall. Predictors for English/ Communications –Seconds on follow up posts & viewing discussions –Number of follow-up posts Predictors for History/ Social Science –Number of pages viewed, follow-up posts, discussions viewed, & original posts Predictors for Science/ Mathematics –Number of pages viewed & original posts –Seconds on content pages

17. The Institute of Higher Education 17 Summary Time-on-task matters! –withdrawers engaged significantly less in number and duration of activities in an online course regardless of course discipline –intensity of frequency and duration necessary for success differed by course discipline Successful completers engaged significantly with the online course –Going repeatedly to content pages (frequency) –Going repeatedly to discussion posts (frequency) –Participating actively in discussions (original and follow-up (frequency) –Spending significant time reading content pages (duration) Effective online student activity for achievement differs by course discipline –Reading content pages is an important factor in Science & Mathematics –Participating in discussion is important in English & History.

18. Catherine Finnegan Catherine.finnegan@usg.edu Presentations and Citations Available at: http://alt.usg.edu