Date of Award

12-26-2007

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Mark Grabe

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influences of two differing online study environments and goal orientation on student study behavior. A total of 390 students participated in this study, 195 students were in the Mastery condition and 195 were in the Study Questions condition. All students were enrolled in one of two sections of introduction to psychology. The condition that the student was assigned to was dependent on which section the student was enrolled. Participants completed the Nelson-Denny Reading Test and a measure of goal orientation. In addition to completing these two measures, students were required to complete online study questions for course points. Students in the Mastery condition were required to complete these questions in the form of 10-item quizzes. Students gained their points by reaching a mastery criterion of 70% on these quizzes with one quiz required for each chapter on the exam. Students in the Study Questions condition gained their points by answering 20 questions for each chapter covered on the exams. Gaining points in the Study Questions condition was not dependent on any performance criterion. Results found no significant group differences between the two study environment conditions for examination performance but there were significant group differences found for online study question use. The Study Questions condition resulted in more questions attempted than the Mastery condition and a significant three-way interaction of condition x time accessed x exam was found indicating that students in the Study Questions condition used the online questions more often across the time accessed periods and the examinations. Results investigating the influence of goal orientation on student online study behavior were analyzed using multiple regression interactions. These analyses produced eight significant interactions however, the only systematic finding was found for the performance-avoid goal orientation. Results from this study indicate that the manner in which online question use is dictated to students Will greatly influence how students use these systems. Additionally, this study provides one of the few examples of the analysis of the differences in student study behavior associated with student goal orientation within an applied environment.

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