Observational studies of student errors in a distance learning environment using a remote recording and replay tool

Abstract

AESOP is An Electronic Student Observatory Project consisting of a set of tools written in Smalltalk allowing student's activities and progress through an on-line distance education course to be remotely recorded, replayed and analysed. The following paper outlines some initial findings from observations made on a cross-sectional group of 368 volunteers taking the course in 2000. Students observed using low resolution 640 x 480 screens were noted to take significantly longer to complete on-line course work (p=0.018). Differences between genders were also found with females reporting less comfort at using computers and males using a greater variety of central processing units. Some evidence indicates that female students were also more likely to be using lower specification machines than males although the differences noted were found to be just outside significance levels.