A thesis entitled

Distance Education: Another Look at the Successful Factors of Online Course at the
Undergraduate Level

submitted to the Carroll University Library in

partial fulfillment of the expectations
and academic requirements of the
degree of Masters in Education

by

Chien-Fu Lin

Research Facilitator, Sandra Shedivy Date

Program Chair, Dr. Wilma J. Robinson Date

Mentor, Shelly Hankes Date

Graduate Support Library Liaison, Allison Reeves Grabowski Date

Distance Education: Factors that Support or Hinder Learning in the Online Courses at the
Undergraduate Level

by

Chien-Fu Lin

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Education

at

Carroll University Waukesha, Wisconsin

December 2010
ABSTRACT
 Distance Education: Factors that Support or Hinder Learning in the Online Courses at the
Undergraduate Level

by

Chien-Fu Lin

Carroll University, 2010

Under the supervision of Dr. Sandra Shedivy

The technology advancements have led to the growing popularity for online learning in

the recent years in higher education institutions therefore, it is important for institutions to

provide quality online programs. In order to address this matter, it is essential to understand what

factors influence the satisfactions of learners as satisfaction is one indicator of the quality of

online courses. Six students in a Midwestern university were voluntarily interviewed for forty-

five minutes at the time. The study found factors that effect the learners' satisfaction were the

relevance of the course content, the reliability of the program used in the course, the lack of

human interaction, the instructors, and the flexibility. Overall, this study provides explanations to

the current existing guidelines and highly recommends that university follow the guidelines,

especially listening to feedback and making adjustments for improvement.

 i
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction to the Thesis....................................................................1

History and Background Information.................................................................1

Problem Statement............................................................................................4

Research Questions...........................................................................................5

Significance.......................................................................................................6

Research Plan....................................................................................................7

Limitations and Delimitations............................................................................8

Data Collection..................................................................................................9

Overview of the Chapters..................................................................................9

Chapter Two: Literature Review..............................................................................11

Online Teaching Practice ................................................................................11

Adult Learner...................................................................................................13

Student and Faculty Perception.......................................................................14

Learner Characteristic.....................................................................................17

Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Learning Strategy.............................................19

Chapter Three: Methodology...................................................................................23

Research Design..............................................................................................23

Research Participants......................................................................................23

Instrumentation...............................................................................................24

Data Collection................................................................................................24

Procedure and Data Analysis...........................................................................25

Chapter Four: Findings............................................................................................26

 ii
Introduction.....................................................................................................26

Participants Profile...........................................................................................26

Reasons for Taking the Course........................................................................27

Course Content................................................................................................27

Relevance................................................................................................27

Content Difficulties..................................................................................28

Course Design.................................................................................................28

Flexibility.................................................................................................29

Assignment Deadlines.............................................................................29

Consistency of the Assignment...............................................................29

Assignment Design..................................................................................30

Work Load...............................................................................................30

Reliability.................................................................................................31

Adaptability.............................................................................................31

Support System...............................................................................................31

The Role of Instructor..............................................................................32

Communication with the Instructor.........................................................32

Support Session.......................................................................................32

Technical Support....................................................................................33

Initial Training/Information Session.........................................................33

Learner Characteristic and Learning Style.......................................................34

Learning Preference................................................................................34

Learner Perceptions and Perspectives.....................................................34

 iii
Study Skills..............................................................................................35

Summary.........................................................................................................35

Chapter Five: Conclusion.........................................................................................36

Introduction.....................................................................................................36

Interpretation and Implications of Results.......................................................36

Institutional Support: A documented technology plan, reliable technology, and

a centralized system. ..............................................................................37

Course Development: Standards and learning outcomes guide course design

and technology; periodic review of instructional materials; courses require
analysis, synthesis, and evaluation..........................................................37

Teaching/Learning: Student interaction facilitated in a variety of ways, timely

and constructive feedback, and instruction in proper research methods.38

Course Structure: Pre-program assessment of self- motivation and technology

assets, clear summary of course objectives and learning outcomes, student
access to library resources, and mutual agreement on student assignment and
faculty response times.............................................................................39

Student Support: Information on programs and support services; hands-on

training and information; access to technical support; quick and accurate
answers to questions................................................................................40

Faculty Support: Technical assistance in course development, help and

assessment in transitioning from classroom teaching to online instruction,
continued training and assistance, and written resources on student use of
electronically-accessed data....................................................................40

Evaluation and Assessment: Process uses several methods and specific

standards, data on enrollment, costs, successful practices used, and learning
outcomes reviewed regularly...................................................................41

Rethinking the Methodology............................................................................41

Recommendations for Future Study................................................................42

Reference................................................................................................................44
 iv
APPENDIX A.............................................................................................................48

APPENDIX B.............................................................................................................50
 1
Chapter One: Introduction to the Thesis

In a small Midwestern liberal arts university, distance learning is used to teach many

subjects, including business, math, and basic computer skills. Some undergraduate students

expressed dissatisfaction toward their online courses while other expressed satisfaction with their

online courses. This study will investigate the factors that lead to learner satisfaction in online

courses for undergraduate students. In addition, this research will address what the participants

feel would need to be done by the university in order to make the experience more successful

and satisfying.

History and Background Information

Distance education has existed as early as 1728 (Holmberg, 2005). In the early days,

Keegan (1980) defines distance education having the following elements:

• The separation of teacher and learners, which distinguish it from face-to-face teaching

• The influence of an organized organization, for example, university, which distinguish it

from private study

• The use of technical media, usually print, to unite teachers and learners and carry out the

educational content

• The possibility of occasional meetings for both dedication and socialization purpose

• The participation in an industrialized form of education that, if accepted, contains the

genus of radical separation of distance education from other form

 2
Most of these elements still apply the distance learning today and in the recent years, there is

growing popularity for online learning due to technology advancements (Allen & Seaman,

2008).

Satisfaction is defined as the reactions and attitudes of learners towards a program

(Feasley & Olgren, 1998). Motivation, interaction with instructors and other students, support

services, course material and learner characteristics are some of the major factors which might

affect learner satisfaction (Biner, Dean, & Mellinger, 1994; Yukselturk & Bulut, 2007). Class

size is usually another factor, however, due to the unique setting of distance education, the effect

is believed to be minimum (Civian & Robert, 1996). Online learning places more responsibilities

on learners compared to traditional learning environment and online learners are the main

participants of the learning process (Moore & Kearsley, 2005).

In order to comprehend the study, a clear picture of the university's background and

general technology practice is necessary. The university is a high cost tuition private institution

in a suburban area located in Midwestern of United State ninety-eight percent of the students

receive financial aid, which is a very high percentage. The undergraduate student body is

comprised of 2995 students with the average class size of 22. The faculty to student ratio is 16:1.

Therefore, the size of the university is relatively small and the communication within the campus

is split equally between electronic and personal communication. All undergraduate students and

staff have campus-assigned computer accounts and are expected to check and respond to their

electronic mail on daily basis.

To enhance the communication outside of classroom, the university uses two intranet

systems. There is a distinct difference between internet and intranet. Intranet is an internal
 3
computer network within an organization and only accessible to the people in the organization.

Internet, on the other hand, is an external computer network which everyone who has internet

connection can access. The intranet system, MyCourse functions as the campus intranet is used

mainly for campus announcements, email, directory, course registration and schedules, links to

different on-campus resources, and most importantly, designed to connect learners and faculty

outside of the regular class schedule. Through MyCourse, faculty can post their course syllabus,

assignments, lecture slides, and additional information for learners. MyCourse also supports

online discussions and channels to connect with the faculty.

Instructor-led initial training sessions are required for both systems. Instructor-led

training, defined by Hanks (2003), means one or more instructors conduct training in a formal

computer classroom setting. During the initial training sessions, students are taught system

functionality and led through a series of steps detailing how to use the technology. Students

receive further support through university library staff or the campus information technology

center.

The university also provides all student and staff access to Rosetta Stone software free of

charge. Rosetta Stone is an interactive program that teaches language. It combines sound, image,

and text to teach learner vocabulary and grammar in an intuitive way, similar to how humans

originally learn their native language. This method is also called the “dynamic immersion

method." The online education program is accessible through the campus intranet.

There are community computers widely available throughout the campus and information

technology center which offers support on computer related problems and campus technology

related issues. These usages of electronic communication channels and technology are crucial
 4
and necessary to the university because: a) one can obtain university news, activities, and

announcements, b) one can contact people within the network, c) one can obtain information

worldwide. Due to these factors, and easy accessibility, students and faculties can become

relatively familiar with the software and computers available to them on campus.

The course this study will focus on aims to educate learners how to use Microsoft Excel

through online software and one instructor is assigned to facilitate the course. There is an

instructor-led initial training course at the beginning of the semester; therefore, students are

required to attend the session to learn how to properly use the software. However, this course

would be identified as a computer-based course because most of the students' learning is through

interaction (exercise, exam) with the computer software. The instructor for this course provides

the learner with deadlines to follow and the course is required for most majors in the university

with few exceptions.

Problem Statement

Allen and Seaman (2008) suggested that online education and blended instruction (a

blend of online and traditional instruction approaches) can be as effective as traditional

classroom. However, few studies have focused on learner satisfaction with online instruction

(Smart K. & Cappel J., 2006). Therefore, this study will examine the students' online education

experience and their perceptions of aspects of courses with which they are satisfied and things

they would suggest to improve.

In order to design a decent distance learning program, it is important for educators and

institutions to recognize the potential problematic attributes of technology (Zheng & Ferris,

2008). These are some factors which were identified before. The most common factor to
 5
ineffective online course pointed out by the researcher is anxiety, the anxiety of unfamiliarity

toward using computer and the software (Zheng & Ferris, 2008). However, the course has an

instructor-led training course to minimize this effect. Another factor could be the lack of

motivation and interests. On the upside, flexibility could also be a factor which students

benefited from an online course because they could do the work at their own pace and enjoy the

possibility to finish the class requirements early. Generally, distance education serves the people

who are motivated and need the flexibility in order to participate. However, university students

are required to take those courses.

Research Questions

The research questions revolve around what factors are the cause of the dissatisfaction. Is

it the lack of communication between professor and learners or the lack of motivation? In

addition, this study could also discover more insights for the following questions:

• What are the factors to a successfully experience for an online course?

• Does instructor-led roll-out training eliminate enough anxiety?

• Do undergraduate students have enough motivation for online courses?

• How do technology-related factors influence students learning?

• How does communication the factor play a role in the effectiveness for online courses?

Using online software as a course has become very common at the university level (Allen

& Seaman, 2008), and this particular course has been conducted several years at this university.

The findings will provide the university with suggestions to improve.

 6
Significance

Over 3.9 millions learners were taking at least one online course during the fall of 2007

and there was a 12 percent increase in online learners compared to the previous year (Allen &

Seaman, 2008). There was also a clear growth of online courses being offered by colleges and

universities. Oblinger (2000) points out the major benefits of distance learning:

• Expanding access

• Alleviating capacity constraints

• Capitalizing on emerging market opportunities

• Serving as a catalyst for institutional transformation

In other words, online courses allow education institutions to serve and educate a greater

population without being bound by the physical time and space. Faculties are increasingly using

the Internet in their teaching (Office of Higher Education at NEA, 2002). Such an education

provides great advantage particularly for non-traditional students.

According to Yukselturk (2009), the benefits of identifying learner satisfaction factors

could be grouped to three main items:

• Low student attrition: Students who are satisfied with their classes and programs tend to

have lower attrition rates, show high levels of motivation, and be committed to their

education goals.
 7
• High commitment to a distance education course: Satisfied student are more likely to

enroll in another online course. In other words, high learner satisfaction from previously

enrolled students helps increase enrollments.

• Large referrals from enrolled students: Students who are satisfied are more likely to

recommend distance courses to family and friends

Also, since learners' satisfaction is one of the good indicators and components in ensuring

learning outcome and the effectiveness of learning, it is also important to understand the reasons

for satisfaction (Yukselturk, 2009).

According to Allen and Seaman (2008), online courses are the trend of the future, and

with the increasing number of courses are taking place online. Hence, many studies have been

conducted to investigate what is the best method to facilitate an online course and different

models and designs have been presented. The findings of this study could identify and discover

the particular needs of undergraduate students and potentially help develop a better online

teaching design and support. Perhaps, as the Internet becomes accessible to more and more

people, online education will be a convenient way to reach people who wish to learn and develop

further.

Research Plan

A qualitative research approach will be applied to investigate the factors that contribute

to the dissatisfaction in distance education at the undergraduate level. Qualitative research is a

type of research in which participants are asked broad and general questions, and the data will

consist mainly of words (Creswell, 2008). The researcher will rely on the perspective of
 8
participants and analyze the words for a theme. Particularly, phenomenological study methods

will be used. Phenomenological study describes the meaning of experience of a phenomenon (or

topic or concept) for several individuals. The fundamental purpose is to reduce individual

experience with a phenomenon to a description of the universal essence (Creswell, 2007).

Phenomenological study is principally effective to bring the perceptions and experience of the

individuals from their point of view (Lester, 1999). Hence, six voluntary participants, who have

taken a particular online course in the year 2008 or 2009, were interviewed and asked to describe

their online course experience and their perspective on how their needs were meet. The data

collected were categorized and analyzed to search for themes. For example, if "I do not see the

relevance of the course to my future" and related terms are mentioned often in the interviews,

then relevance would be one major theme.

Limitations and Delimitations

Creswell (2008) defined limitations as potential weakness or problem with the study

identified by the researcher. The first limitation of this study is the small sample size which

would make generalization less valid. Second, the demographic of the university will also make

the finding specific to the location and perhaps less applicable to a broader population.

Delimitations, on the other hand, are boundaries set by the researcher to narrow the study

for researchability (Creswell, 2008). The specific research will be conducted in this particular

university and will only interview undergraduate students who have taken the specific online

course within a year for recent recollections of the experience and opinions of the course. The

interviews will be limited to from six to eight due to time constraint in order to ensure the study

completion.
 9
Data Collection

All interviews were recorded via a digital recorder and stored into researcher's personal

computer. No one is allowed to access the data. The computer was password protected and the

researcher was the only person with the knowledge of the password. The computer was kept in

researcher's personal place. The data was transcribed into documents and participants reviewed

and made necessary corrections for final consent of using the data.

Data Analysis

Phenomenological data analysis aims to reduce the meaning of long textual content to its

essences and reveal through the textual description of what happened and how the phenomenon

was experienced (Creswell, 2007). During the data analysis, the goal is to search for patterns in

statements for similar and reoccurring terms vertically (single case) and horizontally (across

different cases) to form the characteristics of the phenomenon (Creswell, 2007).

Overview of the Chapters

In Chapter Two, previous findings will be presented to form concepts or the current

study. The methodology of the research will be described in detail, including procedure and data

analysis, in Chapter Three. Reliability and validity of the research will also be discussed. The

findings, analysis, and discussion will be presented in Chapter Four and address the significance

of the study. In the end, Chapter Five will conclude the study findings and state

recommendations based on the findings and direction for future study.

10
 11

Chapter Two: Literature Review

For the past six years online enrollments have been growing substantially faster than

overall higher education enrollments. All types of institutions report increased demand for both

face-to-face and online courses. The economic downfall of 2009 also had a great impact on

education institutions. For example: The decreased availability of good jobs encouraged people

back to school along with those wishing to stay employed fueled the increase of online courses.

In all cases, private or public, the demand for online offerings is greater than that for the

corresponding face-to-face offerings (Allen & Seaman, 2009). Online education is becoming an

important long-term strategy for many postsecondary institutions. Given the rapid growth of

online education and its importance for postsecondary institutions, it is imperative that

institutions of higher education provide quality online programs (Allen & Seaman, 2004). There

are two ways to assess the quality of an online course, student achievement and student

satisfaction (Kim & Bonk, 2006). This study focuses on discovering factors that influence

student satisfaction through a qualitative approach.

This literature review will cover the following a) online teaching practice, b) adult

learner, c) learner characteristics, d) student and faculty perception, and e) motivation, self-

efficacy, and learning strategy

Online Teaching Practice

The Institute of Higher Education has identified a set of 24 benchmarks, clustered in

seven categories:

1. Institutional Support: A documented technology plan, reliable technology, and a

centralized system.
 12

2. Course Development: Standards and learning outcomes guide course design and

technology; periodic review of instructional materials; courses require analysis,

synthesis, and evaluation.

3. Teaching/Learning: Student interaction facilitated in a variety of ways, timely and

constructive feedback, and instruction in proper research methods.

4. Course Structure: Pre-program assessment of self- motivation and technology assets,

clear summary of course objectives and learning outcomes, student access to library

resources, and mutual agreement on student assignment and faculty response times.

5. Student Support: Information on programs and support services; hands-on training

and information; access to technical support; quick and accurate answers to questions.

6. Faculty Support: Technical assistance in course development, help and assessment in

transitioning from classroom teaching to online instruction, continued training and

assistance, and written resources on student use of electronically-accessed data.

7. Evaluation and Assessment: Process uses several methods and specific standards,

data on enrollment, costs, successful practices used, and learning outcomes reviewed

regularly.

These are found to be essential to the success of an Internet-based distance education program at

any institution (Churchill, 2004). These good teaching practices should result in good student

achievement in class, and when students are learning as they put effort into the lesson; they

should be happy. These factors also include a humanistic aspect, student support, which on one

hand enhances the students' abilities to use the technology to learn better, and on the other hand
 13

provides students support to their personal needs. These guidelines were also used for this study

during the interviews for examining how they impacted students' satisfaction.

According to Sloan Consortium Report (Lorenzo & Moore, 2002), an institutional

organization dedicated to the quality of online education, identified a framework of five broad

areas in which to evaluate the quality of online learning:

• Learning Effectiveness

• Student Satisfaction

• Faculty Satisfaction

• Cost-effectiveness

• Access

Clearly, student satisfaction is one key component of a successful online course. Other than

faculty satisfaction, the rest closely relates to learners. One main objective of students enrolling

in a course is to learn, hence, how effectively the students learned is important. The less cost a

student would need to invest in a course for as high a quality course one could have, the better it

is for the student. This probably also affects the students' satisfaction toward an online course.

Access, how easy it is for students to access and participate the course, is essential. If there is

very limited access to the course material, it influences the effectiveness of learning and would

lead to dissatisfaction as well.

Adult Learner
 14

In order to discover and understand the factors of online course leads to learner

satisfaction, a clear picture of learner characteristics, expectations, and needs is necessary. At the

undergraduate level, most learners are around the age of eighteen and twenty-two, usually

categorized as traditional students as they continue their education directly from high school.

However, due to their age, they are already young adults. In addition, according to Rhoda (2005),

many traditional students display lifestyles very much like adult learners. Both seek the

convenience and flexibility of distance education as a solution to compensate their busy schedule

and finish their degrees in a timely manner.

Student and Faculty Perception

Oomen-Early and Murphy (2009) conducted a qualitative research to investigate

university faculty's perceived needs for effective online instruction. They found that there have

been several qualitative studies exploring factors that impact faculty's willingness to adopt or

participate online teaching, but there is a lack of qualitative detail as to what the perceived needs

of faculty are in regard to self-actualization as online instructors. These researchers created an

electronic open-ended survey and a total of 101 university faculty members who had taught

online for a minimum of two semesters, both full-time and part-time completed the survey. The

majorities of the faculty members were within the state of Texas and were teaching at four-year

universities.

As a result, faculty expressed that university administration did not fully understand what

effective online instruction requires, such as the amount of time required to prepare the course,

response to students' questions, and how to provide feedback for assignments. Over 76% of the

participants conveyed the need for universities to assess students' readiness to learn online. The

faculty members expressed how students were not prepared for participating in an online course,
 15

whether they do not understand the time commitment an online course involves, or they expect

the course to be less rigorous than a traditional course. Faculty also perceived that students

expect immediate feedback or a response from an instructor without realizing the time needed for

instructors to review and understand what was posted. Technical support is another factor faculty

identified as a need, specific examples including 24/7 assistance available for students,

technology training, and support staff for the particular platform the course is using.

Those findings brought up some great points to examine for the current study. Perhaps

students feel unsatisfied because they perceived professors have not allocated sufficient time to

prepare for the course or provide timely feedback for questions and assignments. Also, students

might not feel they are ready to take an online course, but have no other options due to school

requirements, and at the same time, did not receive enough support to actually succeed in the

course. The study did not narrow down a specific type of online education which gives great

overall perceived needs but not the needs of specific course, hence, the finding could be utilized

as a general guideline to inspect the area to improve of a course. However, online courses could

be very different from one another and specific to the subject nature (more discussions for a

history course but more problem-solving for a mathematic course) so it should not be the only

guideline. We must be reminded that these are faculty's perspective; there is a need to include

perspective from students and university administration as well.

Hence, Young (2006) wished to take a look into students' perspective on what effective

online teaching is in higher education. She used a web-based instrument including twenty-five

Likert items, identified by the previous studies, and one open-ended question for additional

comments. Four hundred and forty-one online students were randomly selected and a total 199

were collected and analyzed. Adapting to student needs, using meaningful examples, motivating
 16

students to do their best, facilitating the course effectively, delivering a valuable course,

communicating effectively, and showing concern for student learning, were the seven items

identified as the core of effective online teaching by learners.

Perception and expectation are strongly related and the lacking of these core items could

lead to changes in satisfaction. This researcher believes that the perspective of the students in this

study is pre-determined by the items identified by previous studies. Even though there is one

open-ended question, the response to it could be very limited because the researchers could not

follow up with questions to find out more information. Consequently, we can find out a lot more

with a qualitative study which uses interviewing as a technique for gathering data.

Menchaca and Bekele's (2008) meta-analysis results support the finding from the two

studies mentioned above. They concluded that availability of multiple tools added flexibility to

the learning environment. The multiple tools mentioned were: a) technology tools should be

compatible to multiple learning styles, b) appropriate prerequisite skills, and c) faculty and

administrative involvement to ensure programmatic success. These are perceived as essential

factors in a successful distance education program.

There is still the need to compare both perspectives on similar items. Tanner, Noser, and

Totaro (2009) also observed a lack of consensus among online course participants, (students,

faculty, and administrators) about how the success of online courses might be measured. Also,

each group might hold different opinions about or perceptions of what represents online course

quality. Therefore, they carried out a comparative study about faculty and students' perception of

online learning. They prepared two questionnaires with Likert scale items and one was given to

893 undergraduate business students, the other to 1175 faculty members.

 17

Results showed some significant differences in perception about online learning between

faculty and students. Students found no structured class meeting time more appealing while

faculty found meeting and interaction outside important. Students agreed that the technology

required to take online classes increased the value of the experience, where faculty disagree.

Both groups expressed flexibility as an advantage of an online course, allowing students to learn

at their own pace, and requiring student to be more self-disciplined. The possible explanation to

the difference of increase value the experience due to technology, according to this researcher,

could be that students' learning experiences involved not only the course material, but also the

technology in which it is delivered. For faculty, it is tied to the students' grasp of the material

presented. Evidently, both groups expect flexibility which could be an online course's leading

satisfaction factor. This quantitative study could go further with a qualitative study to find more

details of the differences.

Therefore, although studies of student and faculty perspectives have been conducted, this

study will take a different approach to gain qualitative insight of student perspective on effective

online course. The interviewing of students in this study could fill a gap in research on distance

education.

Learner Characteristic

Yukselturk (2009) considers learner satisfaction as one of the major components in

ensuring learning outcomes and determining the effectiveness of learning. Therefore, he

conducted a study to see if learners' entry characteristics effects learners' satisfaction in an online

environment. There is the need for educators to understand online learners. Two major purpose

of his study were the extent to which learners' demographics (age, gender, education level, etc.)

and initial perceptions (online technologies self-efficacy, online learning readiness, etc.) could
 18

account for learner satisfaction in the online program, and the instructors' view about the

characteristics of learners that affect satisfaction. The research combines both qualitative and

quantitative methods, a quantitative survey was sent to the learners prior to their program to

measure their characteristics on eight different items and a post survey for their satisfaction.

Qualitative interviews with the professors were done to gather for the second purpose.

He found out that three characteristics (education level, readiness, and locus control) have

significant impact on learners' satisfaction level; the others (gender, age, online experience, self-

efficacy, and prior knowledge) have little influence. He related educational level with academic

maturity and awareness, and undergraduate students might not be mature enough for the

demands of online learning which is similar to the readiness factor. Readiness in the study was

related to self-directed learning and technical preparedness, which could be developed over a

longer education experience. Lastly, locus of control referred to the ability of learners to take

more responsibility and become more active in their own learning. Interviews with the professor

brought up motivation as an important factor in student learning, which could be considered as a

determining factor in academic performance and can impact student satisfaction. The results

point out how prepared learners were before actually starting the course influences their

satisfaction, in the other words, how the institutions prepared them at the initial course would

impact the result. The current study addresses this by asking participants about how they feel;

were they prepared and did they feel the initial training course prepared them for the course?

This study includes more characteristics, or perhaps breaks down the current characteristics to

finer points with the intention of pin-pointing the actual factors. Also, Yukselturk's research

studied a specific certified program which for other courses and programs, how characteristics
 19

affect learners' satisfaction could be different because of the divergence in course set-up, and

learners' goal.

Motivation, Self-Efficacy, and Learning Strategy

Summarizing from previous research, Wang, Peng, Huang, Hou, and Wang (2008)

identified demography, learning motivation, experiences, obstacles, self-efficacy, learning

strategies, and attributes as significant factors to learners' learning outcomes. Hence, they

decided to investigate these factors to create a model of the relationships between psychological

characteristics to learning outcomes of the distance learner.

They used adapted self-assessment questionnaires to carry out the study with the help of

135 volunteer distance learners. Self-efficacy in this study refers to learner's judgment on his or

her competence in successful completion of different kinds of learning tasks in distance learning.

Learning strategies focus on a) study aids, b) time and task management, c) reflection and

summarization, d) cooperation and communication, and f) examination strategy and emotion

release. Internal attributions are a) ability and effort, b) reflecting internal locus of control, c)

lunch and task difficulty, and d) reflecting external locus of control. As result, they found out the

following relationships:

• Self-efficacy –> learning strategies –> learning results

• Self-efficacy –> internal attribution –> learning motivation –> learning results

(A –> B indicates A influences B)

These two relationships show that learning strategies and learning motivation have positive

prediction effects on learning results, in other words, the higher the motivation, the better the
 20

learning results. This finding agrees with many previous studies and the perspective that

motivation is a key to successful learning. Also, self-efficacy and internal attribution both have

indirect effects on learning results, similar to the above; the higher the value, the better the

results. Therefore, although self-efficacy has no direct impact on learning result, it is still

influential. This is interesting because Yukselturk (2009) found that self-efficacy has little

influence on learner's satisfaction. Perhaps learning results and satisfaction level do not have a

strong correlation or there is a difference in definition. There is a possibility to extend this

researcher's study to address the question of whether learning result is related to learner

satisfaction by including short questions about participants' learning results and their satisfaction

during the study to examine the relationship between their satisfaction level and learning result.

However, the examination of that relationship is more suited for quantitative research due to the

limited amount of data current research would gather and the interpretation of the word would

depend on the perspective of the researcher.

Self-efficacy could be improved by providing initial training session as previously stated

and Yukselturk's study also pointed out that course facilitators can provide different learning

strategies and motivate learners to archive better results. These actions could ultimately lead to

higher learner satisfaction, therefore, interviewing participants about what support the facilitator

provides them and what they wish the facilitator had done in addition, could give us some

pointers as to what might have impacted their satisfaction level.

Motivation has been established as a potential influential factor to learning outcomes.

However, there are different types of motivation, hence, Lim and Kim (2003) conducted a study

to examine what learner characteristics and motivation types affected undergraduate students'

learning for an online course. They use both quantitative and qualitative methods to collect and
 21

analyze data. Surprisingly, they found gender affected online learner's learning. Yukselturk

(2009) found no significant impact of gender on satisfaction. This strengthens the prior

assumption that satisfaction level might not correlate to learning results. Hence, the current study

could compare the satisfaction factors found to the learning outcome factors by Lim and Kim.

Lim and Kim (2003) categorized motivation as five different types: course relevancy,

course interest, affect/emotion, reinforcement, and self-efficacy. Interestingly, self-efficacy is

one type of motivation and is defined as the degree to which one believes that he or she is able to

achieve a given task. From Wang's, et al. (2008) study, self-efficacy is positively correlated to

learner motivation. Course relevancy refers to the value of course content related to learners' jobs

or studies. Course interest could be generated through challengeable learning tasks and creative

course content presentation. Affect/emotion is related to attitude toward change, degrees of

frustration, joy, determination, and gratification in utilizing newly acquired knowledge and

skills. Some examples of reinforcement are grades, instructor feedback, peer support, and

technical support.

According to the result, Lim and Kim (2003) found that course relevancy is the most

important motivation factor, followed by self-efficacy and reinforcement. The analysis of

covariance model was applied to further examine the factors, and they discovered that only

course interest has little effect on learners. From the qualitative findings, compared to other

categories, students perceived personal interest as a relatively less important reason to their

higher learning.

Lim and Kim's (2003) study brought up the importance of relevance of the course to

learners' goal. The question arises whether this factor is less influential if a course is a

requirement towards learners' studies. They might find the course relevant or useful in the future.
 22

Reinforcements again address the essence of timely feedback and other support system related to

the course. Self-efficacy is the only factor which is not controllable (Lim & Kim, 2003) and is

repeatedly identified as critical factor of learning outcomes. Consequently, this study will include

at least one question for participants to reflect upon and self-assess their own competence.

Through a meta-analysis study, Semmar (2006) addressed again the significance of

motivation and self-efficacy. He suggested educators ought to consider how to integrate the

development or enhancement of self-efficacy beliefs, motivational factors, and self-regulated

learning into training seminars or course modules.

These studies identified the following factors which could influence the learners'

satisfaction: a) technical support, b) technology training (initial training session), c) adapting to

students needs, d) showing concern for student learning, e) communicating effectively f) the

difference in perspective among online participants (student, faculty, etc), g) learner

characteristic h) motivation, and i) self-efficacy. However, many of those quantitative studies

could not find out detail satisfaction reasons. This researcher's study questioned learners about

their online experience, the support system they had, reflections of themselves as a learner and

how that might have effect them, and how learners felt about their overall learning in the course.

The finding of this researcher's study would be compared to the previous results; this study could

find specific reasons about reasons why those factors lead to satisfaction or perhaps discover new

grounds for reasons that effect satisfaction.

All the studies and their findings mentioned above are reflected by the online teaching

guideline. Comparing the guidelines to the result of this researcher's study could also provide

some insights of possible dissatisfy factors which students might need but could not identify.
 23

Chapter Three: Methodology

Online education has become more and more popular as the technologies advance.

Hence, it is important for institutions to ensure the quality of courses offered online. Learner

satisfaction is one of the indicators of course quality. This study's focus was to find out factors

which might impact the satisfaction level of learners through a qualitative research method. The

findings could provide guidelines for higher education institutions to evaluate or improve their

online courses. This methodology chapter will describe the study in the following topics a)

research design, b) researcher participants, c) instrumentation, d) data collection, and e)

procedures and data analysis.

Research Design

Qualitative research is a type of research in which participants are asked broad and

general questions, and the data will consist mainly of words (Creswell, 2008). This method is

chosen in order to find out more insight from the learners which the previous quantitative

research could not uncover. Qualitative research is a better approach to discover factors which

might not be previously identified. From the many qualitative methods, phenomenological study

methods were used for this study. A phenomenological study describes the meaning of

experience of a phenomenon (or topic or concept) for several individuals. The phenomena in this

study is the online course experience which learners undergo. The fundamental purpose of

phenomenology is to reduce individual experiences with a common phenomenon to a description

of the universal essence (Creswell, 2007). Phenomenological study is principally effective to

bring the perceptions and experiences of the individuals from their point of view (Lester, 1999).

Research Participants
 24

The two major qualifications of participants for this study are a) he/she must be an

undergraduate student in the university, and b) he/she must be taking or have taken a specific

online course. These two qualifications are required to ensure the data are the most up-to-date

and participants have enough recollection of their online course experience.

The possible pool of qualified potential participants was gathered through personal

referral or volunteers who contacted the researcher directly in person or email. Possible

participants were chosen at random from the pool and contacted via email to ask them to take

part in the study. The total number of participants was six to ensure study completion.

Instrumentation

Two technological instruments will be used in this study. One, a digital recorder to record

the interviews and the other is the researchers' laptop to store the collected data. The laptop is

password protected to guarantee the security of data and privacy of participants.

Data Collection

After participants agreed to take part in the study, an appointment was made between

researcher and participant through email. The location was in a place where noise level is low so

the recording device could function properly and where the participant feels comfortable in order

to express their opinions. The consent form and the general interview questions were sent to the

participants at least 48 hours prior to the actual interview time. The consent form will be read to

the participants before conducting the interview and the interview will be recorded with a digital

recorder and stored onto researcher's personal laptop. The interview questions are general and

broad questions inquiring participants' course experience and thoughts about possible

improvement and strength. Also, participants were asked to describe themselves as a learner and
 25

how that might have influenced their experience. The general interview questions and consent

form can be found in Appendix A and B. During the interview, researcher also took notes on

participant's posture, facial or physical reactions to the question. These digital interview data was

deleted from the recorder after transferring to the laptop and was transcribed word by word to a

Microsoft word document by the researcher.

The researcher had already heard some dissatisfactions related to the course, however,

this study's focus is on factors that lead to dis/satisfaction to the course; hence, these prior

opinions should not and would not influence the objective of the study.

Procedure and Data Analysis

The transcript of each interviews were compared and analyzed by the researcher. The

main task of data analysis is to find similar patterns or phrases from participants' responses. For

example, if one participant expressed “I felt that I was not well-prepared for using the online

software,” and another said “I could use more instructions on how to use the software.” Then the

researcher would mark these two terms and “preparedness of learners to the course software”

would be one of the factors which this research found. These terms were logged onto a table in

order to further compare. The frequency of the phrase would indicate the importance of the

factor.
 26

Chapter Four: Findings

Introduction

Most higher education institutions offer courses online in one form or another. Hence, it

is important for the institute to ensure the quality of the course. Satisfaction of the learners is one

of the indicators of the quality. There has been a few quantitative researches which have

investigated the factors which might impact the satisfaction level of learners. This study used a

qualitative research method to examine and explore the same area in order to better explain what

may not be apparent in quantitative research. The researcher interviewed six different

participants and transcribed the interviews. The data were analyzed and categorized by the

similarity of the statements. This findings chapter will present the results of the study in the

following categories a) course content, b) course design, c) support system, and d) learner

characteristic and learning style.

Participants Profile

In total, six undergraduate students were interviewed. As a requirement, all participants

are currently enrolled in the university for their undergraduate degree and have taken this course

within the past two years. The years into their college degree vary and they are pursuing different

majors as well. The following table includes some quick facts about each participant. Each

individual's name has been changed for privacy reasons.

 27

Name Major Took the Online Course

Sam Physical Therapy One year ago

Megan Education A year and half ago

Sophia Exercise Science Half a year ago

Joe Business Finance One year ago

Sasha Physical Therapy One year ago

Sarah Education A year and half ago

Reasons for Taking the Course

The course is mandatory for most undergraduate degrees in this university. The course

title is “Problem Solving Using Information Technology,” and focuses on educating learners

how to use Microsoft Word and Excel with the aid of software. The course has an instructor who

offers open labs/ support sessions which provides learners to get one-on-one assistance.

Course Content

Course content refers to the information or knowledge the online course offers to the

student. All the participants talked a great deal about the content and how the content was not

relevant to their study.

Relevance.

Relevance appeared to be the top concern of the students. Specifically, relevance to their

career or life. Sasha reflected that she did not enjoy taking the class because she did not see the

relevance to her career path. Furthermore, Megan also expressed her concern that most of the

course content did not apply to her life in the future. The irrelevance of the topic did not only
 28

cause the frustration of learners, but their effort in studying as well. Sam stated that since she did

not feel like it is going to help her with her future career, so often times when she was doing the

work, she was not giving her full effort because she did not really need to try hard to get

anything out of it.

The dissatisfaction of learners towards course content could relate the fact that the course

is mandatory, hence all students need to take it even if they do not wish to. As Sam reasoned, if

she had the option of taking the course or not taking it, then she probably would not have. Megan

and Sophie, however, stated that it was a good thing to have to take the course because they are

not very technology-oriented. Therefore, the course helped them to better themselves using

computers and working with technology. Hence, they found some positive facets of the course,

but still wish they could have had an option to choose or not to choose.

Content Difficulties.

Another factor is the content difficulties of the course. Students coming into the class

with different a previous knowledge base about the subjects and could find the course to be

either too difficult or too easy. As Sophia explained, she felt like a lot of it she already knew and

how to do, therefore taking the course was a waste of her time. In addition, she also reflected

about the relevance of the course. She felt the content was something that she would never need

so she did not really like to pay attention or remember anything. Megan echoed the fact she knew

a lot of the content and suggested that the university should make sure they should know at

which level students are. Most students coming into college know, or already have a lot of prior

knowledge of the subject of this online course.

Course Design
 29

Course design encompasses the design of the course assignments, the system or tools

used in the course.

Flexibility.

Flexibility was found to be the best quality of an online course. Joe enjoyed the fact that

he did not have to show up for class and was able to learn on his own time. Also, he thought that

since he could be in the comfort of his own room or dorm room, apartment, or house, the online

course was a great asset. He believes that having this flexibility suits different people's needs

because everyone could potentially have jobs, other courses, and many other responsibilities.

Assignment Deadlines.

Sarah also expressed that having the flexibility was an advantage, in addition, she also

expressed that having deadlines for assignments was beneficial as well. She states that having

deadlines for assignments helped her prioritize her tasks. Megan also prioritized her tasks with

the aid of the deadline and she thought without the deadlines, people would have trouble

managing their time to complete the course. Hence, it would be better to have check points in a

smaller time frame to ensure learners are not falling behind. Joe sees the down side of having a

deadline for online course when programmed into an electronic system because it would be

much harder to push back in case of unexpected event such as family emergency.

Consistency of the Assignment.

Having consistency in the assignments seem to be a factor which influences students'

learning. Joe stated that because the assignments were setup the same way, it was easy for him

get familiar with the work involved. He thinks that it would be good transition for learners who
 30

are not comfortable with technology. Sophia said it was easy for her to get used to the

instructions after a few basic examples because they are very consistent.

Assignment Design.

Megan stated that assignments and learning example/practice materials should not be too

similar to each other so learners would actually have to apply the knowledge learned in the

course. This is especially important because the learners could potentially have the book right in

front of them, as Sam explained, they could just open to the chapter and find the answers. She

felt that it gave her an impression that online courses are more of a slack-off course because she

does not need to spend time learning the material.

Sasha would appreciate having more collaborative assignments because sometimes it is

hard for her to understand assignment instructions. Joe expressed a similar request because he

enjoys bouncing ideas off of others and working with other students. He found that more

valuable than just staring at the computer. This suggests one of the big criticisms of online

course: lack of human interaction. In addition, Megan recommended variability in learning tasks

and assessment. She believes it would be more meaningful than just same type of learning every

week.

Work Load.

The appropriate amount of assignments effects students' interests in the course, especially

when the tasks appear to be repetitive. Joe said that the repetitive, long tasks prohibited him from

engaging in other tasks on which she would otherwise be working. It is important to understand

that learners have other roles in life. Sam explained that she had a job and other courses which

she were more important to her. She felt the work load became a burden and a waste of time.
 31

Reliability.

The reliability of the system, software, and tools used in the class are very crucial

because when problems arise, especially in late hours during the night and while working on

assessments (exams), it is difficult to get assistance. Sarah always experienced some kind of

computer glitches when she was working on her exams and she would not know what to do, and

then ended up getting the question wrong. Joe felt frustrated when he could not finish his

assignments as he planned because of bugs in the program and there was nothing he could do

other than wait for instructor to debug the problem.

Adaptability.

The online assessments should be adaptive to different possible ways to solve the

problem. Joe thought that allowing multiple solutions is important because it would allow

students to solve problems more intuitively instead of regurgitate what they learned.

Furthermore, he explained that realistically in real life, the ability to problem solve intuitively

and look for alternative solutions is much more important than repeating the same process. For

example, if the task is to make a paper airplane, there are many ways to fold a paper airplane.

Then there should not be only one type of airplane to be accepted as the right solution to the task.

Support System

Support system pertains to the various support the course offers to ensure students'

learning. The available support system for this online course are the instructor, open lab/support

session offered by the instructor, and technical support from the software company.
 32

The Role of Instructor.

Even though online education takes away the element of having face-to-face interaction

and a more personal connection with the instructor, the role of instructor still appears to be one

of the most essential factors to both course quality and students' learning. Sophia stated that the

instructor was able to push her to want to learn more about the subject. Sam said she was glad

that she still could easily get help from the instructor.

Communication with the Instructor.

Most participants indicated that they love having immediate response and feedback after

asking a question which is something an online course could not provide. Hence, having an

instructor who responds in a timely manner to learners' questions and concerns is crucial to

learners. Sarah felt it was important and helpful to her that the instructor seemed available to

answer her questions.

Megan explained that the reason she still felt comfortable enough to seek help from the

instructor, even though there was no face-to-face of connection, was because the constant

reminders from the instructor about deadlines and upcoming support sessions.

Support Session.

Even though learners of online courses might be taking courses from various locations, it

is still necessary to offer support sessions for learners. Sophia, even though she does not like

computers in general, was able to utilize the support session offered to keep her motivated

because she was able to get one-on-one time with the instructor. Sasha had a similar experience

and found it very effective and helpful for her study.

 33

Technical Support.

As previously pointed out, the reliability of the program used is important, therefore, as a

failsafe, the technical support would be equally significant. Especially in facing bugs from the

tools used for the class, there must be some way to resolve the problem. Joe was aware of the

technical support for the software system used, however it was still easier for him to send his

technical problem to the instructor and he knew the instructor would route the information to the

technical support if he or she could not resolve it or addressed the problem directly. For him, the

important part was that he could continue working on his assignments and his grade was not

affected by it.

Technical support also includes providing the means for learners to take the course.

Sophia did not have Internet access at home. Therefore, she used the computer lab on campus

which is open all week to do her assignments. Otherwise it would be very difficult for her to

learn and take the course.

Initial Training/Information Session.

Not everyone has taken an online course before and every online course is setup

differently. Some participants pointed out the value of the initial training and information session

for them. Megan did not feel confident taking this course before the information session because

it centered around technology. She felt better after having more knowledge about the course and

where she could get help. Sarah learned how to use the software during the session and how to

contact the instructor in case of problem. She said that it made the transition between traditional

course to online course easier for her. Sasha was unfamiliar with many terms used in the course

therefore the information was hard for her to digest and that frustrated her.
 34

Learner Characteristic and Learning Style

Learner characteristic and learning style refer to learners' preference in learning,

perception, their organizational and study skills.

Learning Preference.

Many participants expressed that they prefer hands-on learning and the online course did

not fit their learning style. Megan, for example, would prefer to make posters and things she

could actually work with, with her hands. She felt rather limited at a computer by the online

program. Sam usually makes note cards for what she studies and it is an effective method for her.

However, she felt that she did not actually have to study for this online course because she could

have the material right in front of her when needed. This was a disadvantage for her because she

felt she did not actually learn the material.

Sophia favors course content being more diversified in the delivery because it would

make the information a lot more interesting and increase her motivation in the subject. She felt

this online course's delivery of information was too similar for each learning objective therefore

she lost her interest over the course period.

Learner Perceptions and Perspectives.

Some participants had negative perceptions or perspectives toward online courses before

taking the course. Sophia stated that she much preferred face to face interaction, hence she did

not like online course. However, her perspective changed for the better after taking the course.

Sarah did not enjoy a previous online course she took, hence she came into the course disliking

it. She said her past experience influenced her motivation and effort studying for the subject.
 35

Study Skills.

Each individual students' study skills impact their success in the class. Time management

would be one of the study skills to influence the learner, especially their stress level. Sarah

believed that if she worked on the assignments a little bit each day, then she would not be so

stressed out before the deadline. Procrastination was reported by some participants as a hindering

factor.

Joe expressed that his learning is better when working in groups. However, it is difficult

for him to do so for this online course because he does not usually know his classmates and it is

harder to arrange study sessions that would work for people.

Many participants prioritized other courses, which are much more directly related to their

study or useful to their life, over this online course.

Summary

The participants explained discovered many factors which potentially influenced the

effectiveness of an online course and learners' satisfaction, from course content to learners

themselves. The factors that they were most dissatisfied with were the relevance of the course

content, the reliability of the program used in the course, and the lack of human interaction. At

the end, they felt most satisfied with were the instructors, the flexibility, and how easy the

program was for them to get used to. Overall, although the participants did not take the courses

at the same time, most of the feedbacks were relatively similar.

 36

Chapter Five: Conclusion

Introduction

The technology advancements have led to the growing popularity for online learning in

the recent years (Allen & Seaman, 2008) and it is crucial that higher education institutions

provide quality online programs (Allen & Seaman, 2004). According to Kim and Bonk (2006),

student achievement and student satisfaction are two ways to assess the quality of an online

course. This study focuses on the satisfaction of learners because it is a significant indicator of

the effectiveness of an online course and the reasons for their satisfaction can provide

information to improve the course.

The main research question was: What factors are the causes of the dissatisfaction/

satisfaction? In addition: What are the factors to a successful experience for an online course?

How does communication factor in as a role in the effectiveness for online courses? How do

technology-related factors influence students learning? Do undergraduate students have enough

motivation for online courses? These questions were addressed to discover more insights and

better explain the main question.

Interpretation and Implications of Results

While Chapter Two sums up several factors which could influence the learners'

satisfaction by various studies. This study intends to find detailed reasons for satisfaction and

perhaps discover new ground. In Chapter Two, the seven cluster categories found be essential to

the success of an online course by Institute of Higher Education were mentioned (Churchill,

2004). These seven categories will be used as topics in this chapter to discuss the findings.
 37

Institutional Support: A documented technology plan, reliable technology, and a

centralized system.

Certainly, the necessity of reliable technology is confirmed by this study. All participants

were not happy with the bugs and trouble they encountered with the program they used for the

course. It frustrated them and decreased their learning motivation. Hence, educational institutions

must have a quality control procedure for both software and hardware used in online courses.

Course Development: Standards and learning outcomes guide course design and

technology; periodic review of instructional materials; courses require analysis, synthesis,

and evaluation.

According to the results of this study, the relevance of the course content is the most

essential factor to learners' satisfaction. This relates to Lim and Kim's (2003) finding that the

value of course content related to learners' job studies is the most important motivation factor.

Therefore, education institutions need to ensure that the content fits the needs of the students.

Also, developing and reviewing the course requirements periodically of each major with life

application and career path in mind need to be considered. The motivation and effort of the

learners would be much better when they see how the course content could be useful to them in

their life. However, participants still found benefits from having to take an online course such as

increasing ability with technology, even though they did not feel the course content was helpful

to them.
 38

Teaching/Learning: Student interaction facilitated in a variety of ways, timely and

constructive feedback, and instruction in proper research methods.

As some participants reflected, having variability in learning tasks and assessment would

make the course more meaningful. However, in Lim and Kim's (2003) study, they found little

influence of the challengeable learning tasks and creative content presentation to learners'

motivation. In this study, learners wish to have diversity in content deliver methods and believe

appropriate learning tasks difficulty would increase their interest in the course and level of

learning. Menchaca and Bekele's (2008) finding had similar recommendations for having

technology tools compatible to multiple learning styles. Hence, although the delivery method

might be limited in online courses, it is still essential to incorporate as many different ways to

introduce information as possible. This would include more learning preference from different

individuals.

The effectiveness of an instructor was very critical to the satisfaction of the learners in

the findings of this study. As stated in Chapter Two, Oomen-Early and Murphy's (2009) study

found that faculty perceived students expected immediate feedback or response from an

instructor without realizing the time needed for instructors to review and understand what was

posted. This study supports that finding, most participants indicated that they love having

immediate response and feedback after asking a question which is something an online course

could not provide. This is an interesting correlation in perception/expectation and perhaps could

be resolved by creating a good communication standard and expectation at the very beginning of

the semester.

Also, according to the results from this study, regular communication from the instructor

would increase the comfort level of learners seeking help and even though there was a lack of
 39

face-to-face interaction, learners felt the instructor appeared available because of the timely

response to questions. Hence, the timely response from the instructor was important to the

learners. Therefore, education institutions should set expectations to online course instructors on

communication to ensure the quality of the course. This leads to the next category recommended

by the Institute of Higher Education.

Course Structure: Pre-program assessment of self- motivation and technology

assets, clear summary of course objectives and learning outcomes, student access to library

resources, and mutual agreement on student assignment and faculty response times.

Tanner, Noser, and Totaro (2009) found students felt no regular class meeting time more

appealing and flexibility as an advantage of online courses, as mentioned in Chapter Two. This is

confirmed by this research, participants conveyed that they enjoyed having no regular class

meeting and were able to learn at their own pace. However, participants also preferred having

deadlines for assignments in this study because it helped them to prioritize their tasks.

Assessment deadlines take away some responsibilities from the learners, but nevertheless require

students to be more self-disciplined.

In Chapter Two, Yukselturk (2009) found little influence of previous online experience to

learners' satisfaction which become debatable according to results of this study because

participants expressed that their previously unpleasant online course experience led them dislike

the course and effected their effort and motivation studying for the course. However, educational

institutions have no control or record of the prior online learning experience of students. Two

recommendations could be made, 1) ensuring the quality of all online courses offered by the

institution, which might be difficult, and 2) a well-conducted initial meeting or training section

could perhaps neutralize the bad past experience.

 40

Student Support: Information on programs and support services; hands-on training

and information; access to technical support; quick and accurate answers to questions.

The findings of this study pointed out the value of having initial training and information

sessions. Participants felt better after the information session because they had a better idea

where they could get help. After going over the basics of how to access the learning technology,

the transition from traditional course to online course was made a lot easier.

On one hand, the results of this study showed the importance of access to technical

support because the glitches and trouble learners faced during the course, which were resolved

through the participants' instructor. On the other hand, participants did not find the need to know

the direct technical support from the company which designed the learning software because

they found the instructor was sufficient to help with their problems.

Faculty Support: Technical assistance in course development, help and assessment

in transitioning from classroom teaching to online instruction, continued training and

assistance, and written resources on student use of electronically-accessed data.

As described above, students relied strongly on their instructors for the problems

encountered during the course. Hence, training or support for the instructors of online courses in

order to deal with students' needs is essential to the success of the course. Since students were the

focus of this study, the faculty support was not well covered. However, if the instructors were

viewed as insufficient to assist learners, learners would express their concerns, which was not the

case in this study.

 41

Evaluation and Assessment: Process uses several methods and specific standards,

data on enrollment, costs, successful practices used, and learning outcomes reviewed

regularly.

The study itself is a form of evaluation and assessment of the online course. Every course

in the university where the study was conducted is evaluated by the students at the end of the

semester. However, as described in Chapter Four, participants had taken this course within two

years, but all expressed very similar feedback about the course. This led to the question of

whether those evaluation data from the students was taken into consideration by the university

and any action to improve the course was taken. Therefore, the educational institutions do not

only need to evaluate the online courses but more importantly, should put the feedback into use.

All the factors influenced the online course experience of the participants discovered in

this study were well covered by these seven categories. Even though the findings did not

necessarily find new ground, they certainly provided good reasoning for the guidelines and

explanation of why they effect learners' experience, especially from the students' perspective.

Rethinking the Methodology

One prerequisite for students to take part in the study was that they must have taken the

specific online course within the last two years. This prerequisite was set to ensure the

participants had enough recollections of their online course experience. During the data

collection process, it was clear that participants who had taken the courses closer to the interview

time had more information to share. Hence, it might be a good idea to set the time prerequisite

even shorter. This would enhance the findings of the study.

 42

The question raised on Chapter Two was whether or not there is correlation between

participants' satisfactions and their learning outcomes. It was hard to determine from this study's

qualitative data because statements cannot be translated into numbers. Hence, it might be a good

idea to combine a little quantitative survey with the study in order to answer this question.

Only one participant in this study was male, therefore, it might be a good idea to add a

prerequisite to balance the number which might allow more interesting comparisons between the

two genders. This leads to the last point, the number of the total participants. There is no doubt

that a greater amount of total participants would enhance the validity of the results and increase

the chances of finding better explanations and information. However, the time required to

transcribe the data should also be taken into consideration. It is important to find a good balance

and not to be overwhelmed with repetitive data.

Recommendations for Future Study

During this study, the researcher only interviewed students who took a specific online

course at the university. Therefore, the study could not address other potential factors to students'

satisfactions in other online course settings. Further research should include more variety of

online courses. At the same time, as described before, the research was unable to determine

whether or not there is correlation between students' satisfactions of the course and their learning

outcomes. Therefore, it could be the focus study of future research. In addition, future research

could further examine the findings indicated in this study such as factors which would increase

the relevance in learners' view in order to provide specific recommendations on improving the

online courses. As a conclusion, this study showed the seven categories guidelines from Institute

of Higher Education were very inclusive to ensure the quality of online courses. Educational
 43

institutions should certainly follow the guidelines to provide students great learning

environments.
 44

Reference

Allen, E., & Seaman, J. (2009). Learning on demand: Online education in the United States.

Retrieved from http://www.sloan-c.org/

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APPENDIX A

CARROLL UNIVERSITY RESEARCH CONSENT FORM

Distance Education

Chien-Fu (Jeff) Lin

DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH BY INVESTIGATOR

PURPOSE OF STUDY: This study is design to find out the factors which hinder or support student
learning in distance education.

DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY INCLUDING PROCEDURES TO BE USED: Participants will be

interviewed for one hour. Any questions about the study will be answered at any time.

DESCRIPTION OF ANY PROCEDURES THAT MAY RESULT IN DISCOMFORT OR

INCONVENIENCE: The whole interview will be recorded and the interview will last for no less than an
hour.

EXPECTED RISKS OF THE STUDY: The interview data will remain confidential and anonymous.
Only the researcher has the original data.

EXPECTED BENEFITS OF THE STUDY TO THE PARTICIPANT: The participants will gain a better
insights about their learning preference and style.

USE OF RESEARCH RESULTS: The result of this study will help to improve the distance education in
the university and help to develop better design for online courses for future students.

FREEDOM TO WITHDRAW: The participation is completely voluntary and that a decision not to
participate will involve no penalty or loss of benefits to which the subject/participant is entitled.

If you have any complaints about your treatment as a participant in this study, please call or
write:
 49

Dr. Joanne Passaro, Provost

Carroll College

100 N. East Avenue

Waukesha, Wisconsin 53186

262/524-7267

RESEARCH SUBJECT/PARTICIPANTS’ RIGHTS

I have read or have had read to me all of the above. __________________ has explained the study to me
and answered all of my questions. I have been told of the risks or discomforts and possible benefits of the
study.

I understand that I do not have to take part in this study, and my refusal to participate will involve no
penalty or loss of rights to which I am entitled. I may withdraw from this study at any time without
penalty.
The results of this study may be published, but my records will not be revealed unless required by law.

Any identifying information obtained in this study will be treated as confidential and will be safeguarded
in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974.

I understand my rights as a research subject/participant, and I voluntarily consent to participate in this

study. I understand what the study is about and how and why it is being done. I will receive a signed
copy of this consent form.

Participant Signature:

Name: __________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Researcher Signature:

Name: __________________________________________ Date: _____________________

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APPENDIX B
Interview Questions

• Please describe the online course design which you have taken.

• How do you see yourself as a learner?

• Why did you take the course?

• Please describe your experience taking an online course.

• What were the advantages for you taking an online course?

• What were the disadvantages?

• What helps you to learn during this class?

• What kind of support system does the class offer?

• What do you think about the course program design?

• What suggestion do you have to improve the class?

• What things would you do differently if you take this class game?

• What do you feel you learn in this class?

• What are the factors which made you satisfy or dissatisfy with the course?

Specific Potential Follow-Up Topics

• technical support

• technology training (initial training session)

• adapting to students needs

• showing concern for student learning

• communicating effectively

• the difference in perspective among online participants (student,

faculty, etc)

• motivation

• self-efficacy