Assessing Student Expectations and Preferences for the Distance Learning Environment: Are Congruent Expectations and Preferences a Predictor of High Satisfaction?
Open Access
- Author:
- Pollack, Karen Irene
- Graduate Program:
- Instructional Systems
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- June 06, 2007
- Committee Members:
- Francis M Dwyer Jr., Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Kyle Leonard Peck, Committee Member
Melody M Thompson, Committee Member
William L Harkness, Committee Member - Keywords:
- distance education
online learning
learner satisfaction
learner expectations
learner preferences
collabaration
learning styles
learner motivation - Abstract:
- In the last five to ten years, innovations in educational technology and enthusiasm for perceived gains in cooperative learning behaviors, instructional variation, larger and more distributed course projects, and learning that occurs through peer tutoring (Duffy and Cunningham 1996) have caused distance educators to move away from individualistic forms of study and toward collaborative learning environments. Historically, independent learning has offered learners “any time, any place” and “own pace,” access to distance education. Distance education is using new technologies to maximize collaboration and increase learning, actually resulting in a reduction in the amount of learner control and flexibility. If these new collaborative environments don’t meet learner expectations and preferences, what is the impact on learning in general and satisfaction in particular? This study was designed to assess whether student expectations and preferences for distance learning environments are associated with high satisfaction. The independent variables are congruence of expectations for the learning environment distance learners thought they would be placed in and congruence of preferences with the learning environment in which they were placed. A single measure of satisfaction was summed from student responses on five dimensions of learner satisfaction: overall satisfaction, the meeting of educational goals, degree of difficulty with learning course ideas and concepts, the promptness of instructor response, and satisfaction with the course itself. This study tested the hypothesis that students who are placed in a distance learning environment that is congruent with their expectations and preferences will have higher satisfaction levels. Although prior research does show that satisfaction with the course structure and materials does correlate with greater satisfaction and knowledge gains, no significant differences in satisfaction were found between learners with congruent preferences and expectations versus incongruent preferences and expectations, based on the way that students responded in this particular study. The finding of significance in prior studies may be related to differences in the types of subjects recruited, the types of courses selected, or differences in the course delivery models.