Higher education institutions consider student satisfaction to be one of the main factors in determining the quality of their online learning. The purpose of this study was to develop a reliable, valid, and practical instrument to measure online students' satisfaction as well as to explore the psychometric and theoretical concerns surrounding the construct validity of existing satisfaction scales. The study was carried out in 2017-2018 fall and spring with participants consisting of freshmen who took the online course in a state university (N fall =1585; N spring =1206). In this study exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (Study 1-N EFA =921) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (Study 1-N CFA =664; Study 1-N CFA =1206) were performed to assess the construct validity of the scale's measures. As proof of validity, the effect of gender on satisfaction was examined, for which independent sample t-test was performed. For the criterion validity, the relationship between computer and internet self-efficacy and satisfaction scores of the learners was examined. The finalized version of satisfaction scale, consisting of eight items, demonstrated that the scale is suitable for general use. Suggestions for future researchers and practioners are proposed.
This study aims to investigate and analyze the attitudes and opinions of computer science students at two academic colleges of Education with regards to the use of structured and unstructured discussion forums in computer science courses conducted entirely online. Fifty-two students participated in two online courses. The students in each course were divided into two groups: the experimental group, which participated in the structured discussion forum, and the control group, which participated in the unstructured discussion forum. The questionnaire, which was used for collecting the data, consisted of closed and open-ended questions. The results revealed that the attitudes of students who participated in the structured discussion forum were positive compared to the attitudes of students who participated in the unstructured discussion forum. Based on the results of the study, the researcher suggests some appropriate recommendations.
Online learning has been used over the past decade in most disciplines at higher education while the asynchronous online courses are one of the more popular modes of conducting online learning. Within the asynchronous online course, the asynchronous discussion forum plays an important role since it can replace the face to face interaction of the traditional classroom. Since discussions are critical in any learning process, the question is what are the essential components of the asynchronous discussion forum that can make asynchronous discussions more effective for learning and knowledge construction? This paper reviews the literature regarding the main elements and components that makes an asynchronous discussion forum more effective for knowledge acquisition and thereby increases the quality of online learning.
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