Neag School of Education -- Learning Online -- Understanding the KABs of Successful Online Learners Anthony R. Artino, Jr. Cognition & Instruction Program Department of Educational Psychology

2 Statement of the Problem A central problem for learning research today is to better understand the nature of online distance learning (Bernard et al., 2004) Online learning has emerged as a viable alternative to traditional classroom instruction (Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006) –Number of degree-granting institutions offering online courses increase from 1.6 million in 2002 to 3.5 million in 2006 (Allen & Seaman, 2007) Despite this meteoric growth, very little is known about the KABs that contribute to success in online learning (Bernard et al., 2004)

3 Conceptual Framework This study addressed this under-researched area by exploring the relations between students’ KABs in a self-paced online course –Focused on the links btwn Attitudes & Behaviors Attitudes Task Value Self-Efficacy Attitudes Satisfaction Behaviors Elaboration Metacognition Behaviors Intentions to Enroll Knowledge Course Grade

4 Sample 481 undergraduates (sophomores & juniors) from the U.S. Naval Academy Participants Demographics Gender Age MaleFemale N%n%n%MSD Total Sample

5 Key Findings Task value was the strongest and most consistent positive predictor of students’… –Use of deep processing strategies –Overall end-of-course satisfaction And weakly related to course grade Attitudes Task Value Attitudes Satisfaction Behaviors Elaboration Metacognition Knowledge Course Grade

6 Key Findings Self-efficacy was a moderately strong positive predictor of students’… –Overall end-of-course satisfaction –Intentions to enroll in future online courses Attitudes Self-Efficacy Attitudes Satisfaction Behaviors Intentions to Enroll

7 Take-Home Messages There are important outcomes, other than just knowledge, that are worthy of assessment in online learning situations Task value and self-efficacy beliefs appear to be important proximal predictors of KABs as they occur during (and following) online learning These findings suggest that to positively influence KABs in a self-paced online course, developers should consider addressing students’ attitudes (specifically, their motivational beliefs)