Date of Award

8-20-2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Teaching & Learning

First Advisor

David Yearwood

Abstract

The current trend toward online learning significantly changes the paradigm for teaching and learning. While instructors structure and sequence how they teach in a traditional face-to-face classroom, the very nature of online learning shifts the locus of control from the instructor to the learner, as the student picks and chooses how and when they access the course, what aspects they dwell on, and for how long. As a result, a need exists to investigate how different students respond to the online interface. This study conducted at a small Canadian mid-western university was designed to investigate whether a relationship existed between students' cognitive style preferences and their comfort, use, and satisfaction with the online learning environment. The impetus driving this study was largely due to the scarcity of empirical research relating perceptual modality preferences to online learning. The majority of Internet sites do a good job of presenting information visually; however, students with a dominant visual preference represent only 3% of the population. Therefore, without looking at students' cognitive style preferences as they relate to online learning, the medium is neither being used to its fullest, nor are learners receiving the full potential of online learning. The study (n = 94) looked at two aspects of cognitive style preferences: perceptual modality and field independence/dependence. This study found that student perceptual modality preferences were significant for all three research questions (i.e., students' comfort, use, and satisfaction with WebCT). There was a negative correlation between those with auditory preferences and their comfort and use of WebCT. Conversely, there was a positive correlation between students' kinesthetic preferences and their comfort and use of WebCT. With regard to field independent/dependent students, the only relationship this study found was a negative correlation between field dependent learners and their comfort with both the downloading of files and conversion between different files types. The significance of this study lies in providing preliminary insight into how students with different cognitive preferences respond to online learning, and may provide a basis to improve the quality of online learning for students.

Download

Share

COinS