Abstract. Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Campus ('University'), uses Moodle as a tool to circulate lecture materials and other relevant information for ...
MOODLE: ITS RELEVANCE FOR STUDENT ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION IN CURTIN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, SARAWAK CAMPUS Cecilia Anthony Das Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus Abstract Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Campus (‘University’), uses Moodle as a tool to circulate lecture materials and other relevant information for student regardless of location. This tool of learning gives flexibility to the student in accessing the materials wherever they may be. This conceptual paper aims to investigate whether the usage of Moodle as a flexible tool of learning enhances students’ engagement and motivation to remain as a student of the University? Literature in this area is duly considered to determine whether the usage of technology such as Moodle does increase the engagement and motivation of a student towards their studies. The outcome, will determine the positioning of course management systems as part of course delivery to enhance student engagement and motivation in the University. A questionnaire shall be distributed to undergraduate students from the School of Business and a focus group will be formed to ascertain the students’ perspective of engagement and motivation through the usage of Moodle. The author believes that the result of this research would enable the University to embark on engagement and retention strategies that would enrich teaching and learning experience of the students. Moodle Relevance – Student Engagement – Retention
Introduction Technological innovation has surged into the world of academia. Hence, the role of technology in education is becoming increasingly significant and nudging learning institutions to implement them in their delivery of the programmes lest they lose out to their far more advanced competitors. Hence, course management system (CMS) such as Blackboard is being used widely as a method of delivery for online course materials (Romero et. al, 2007; Harrington et. al, 2006; Wishart and Blease, 1999). This system allows the faculty to distribute information, lecture notes, assignments, forums, file storage and others (Romero et. al, 2007). Moodle (modular object oriented developmental learning environment), is a free system which allows flexible and engaging online courses and experiences (Romero et. al, 2007). Bangert (2004) suggests that the number of on-line courses and non-traditional delivery of learning materials in the increase because the students prefer this form of delivery. Marshall (2002) found evidence to suggest that educational technology lends support to the work that is norm of a teacher i.e. expanding the horizons of the students beyond classroom setting. In the course of exploratory research of literatures on this area, the investigator has made an initial discovery where on-line learning or CMS environment has been considered from three perspectives (Harrington, et al., 2006), from the view point of an institution’s administration, the faculty perspective where the software is used to deliver basic information and class time is used to considered more advanced materials and effectiveness of on-line teaching. In addition researches also indicate that potentials of CMS are not fully exploited by instructors and students alike. In fact, CMS has been likened to “teleporting” where it is utilised simply for the delivery of materials electronically (Vovides et. al, 2007). In the research the author would like to address the following questions: (1) Does the usage of Moodle by instructors in the University is able to engage the students to a given unit or the course as a whole? (2) To determine the motivation for using Moodle in their learning? Lifelong Learning International Conference 2010 (3LInC’10) / 1
(3) To ascertain whether usage of Moodle is one of the factors that motivates the students to remain As a Student of the University? Background Curtin University of Technology Sarawak Campus (‘University’), uses two types of course management system namely Blackboard and Moodle. Blackboard is controlled through the main campus, Curtin University of Technology Western Australia. In Sarawak, the local lecturers use Moodle to control the local content of the unit. Information in relation to the units and classes are also posted in this system. Students are further able to join in the forums to discuss on the particular unit. The tool allows interaction even after contact hours which are to facilitate to the University’s flexible learning policy. The University encourages both the lecturers and students to use this system to achieve better engagement; and retention as a result thereof. The paper proposes to explore the effectiveness of Moodle as a flexible tool of learning in engaging the students; and the ability to retain them as a student of the University. The investigator was motivated to embark upon this work as a follow up to a presentation at the School of Business Teaching and Learning session. The paucity of study in this area (Lass et. al., 2007), motivated the investigator to study further and the findings of this study will surely benefit the University in better positioning their delivery methodology and retaining their students up to the point of graduation. Learning and Technology The concept of learning has obtained much attention through the development of various learning strategies and it goes without saying that learning technologies has to be given similar importance as well to complement the developments of learning strategies (Ramaley and Zia, 2005). On-line learning is a method of learning which has arisen due to technological advancement - internet. According to Keegan (1988) on-line learning is characterised inter alia by the separation of educators and learners as opposed to the face to face learning system. Computer networks are used to present and/or distribute some if not all the educational content and the two way communication is established through the computer network. It has been argued that flexibility of time and place makes online learning as a preferred mode of study (Cornelieus and Gordon, 2008; Shen et. al, 2006). The accessibility at remote areas where board and mortar education availability is scare has also made online learning favourable (Vovides et. al, 2007). Technological developments seamlessly bring differing experiences to students via modeling, animations, simulations, voice and other applications (Ramaley and Zia, 2005). Learning has surpassed the blackboard indefinitely. These developments run in parallel with the constructivist model of learning where the learner gives his own meaning and knowledge from the experiences gained (Bangert, 2004). This is because the technological support gives a hands-on experience to the learners. Cognitive form of learning is through repetition though there is a stress on the role of feedback but not through motivation. Again this form of learner may also find favour with learning technologies (Atherton, 2009). Argument was forwarded by Vovides et. al, 2007, that CMSs should be designed to take into consideration of the variety of learning styles, prior knowledge, culture and self-regulation skills for it to be more effective as a mode of course delivery. The focus of the proposal however is not on teaching theories and therefore this aspect of teaching and learning will not be considered at length in this research and how it relates to Moodle. Nevertheless, a
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little consideration will be given to some aspects and/or elements of constructivism when the investigator is discussing on issues relating to student engagement. Student Engagement It is the aim of all academics to have the ability to engage the learners with the course. Hence the issue of student engagement is the primary concern of educational institutions as well as the educators (Zhao and Kuh 2004; Umbach and Wawrzynski 2005; Pike and Kuh 2005; Ryan 2005). The issue of student engagement is important as it is the barometer of success of the student in their degree studies (Pike and Kuh, 2005). Research on engagement of student in relation to interactions with the faculty has been found to be positive (Umbach and Wawrzynski, 2005). In the same research it was found that out of class interactions had less impact on student engagement although positively related with learning activities. The researcher intends to extend the research by Umbach and Wawrzynski (2005) further by considering whether usage of Moodle makes any impact on the engagement of the students to the course materials in the University. Engagement is achieved where the student is able to involve his/her active cognitive processes of creativity, analytical skills, solution oriented thinking, rationalising, ability to make decisions and synthesising the knowledge that has been delivered. This process motivates the learner to explore and continue with the acquisition of knowledge with much vigour (Zhao and Kuh, 2004). However, according to Cornelius and Gordon (2008), there is less empirical evidence to support that flexible learning increases engagement. In ideal conditions, a suitable and considerate learning environment would be able to successfully engage all the students to the subject matter irrespective of their inter alia learning patterns, behaviour and social standing. CMS may provide a supportive learning system and is able to break the monotone of a classroom environment (Hoskins and van Hoof, 2005; Harrington et. al, 2006). Hence a hybridlearning environment provides the best of both worlds to a learner. Laird and Kuh (2005) argue that information technology is useful for learning environment to “engage” a learner. The research attempts to explore the viability of Moodle in engaging the students of the University to the courses per se. Lu et. al (2003) argues that learning styles have no impact on the usage of CMS in learning. CMS has the ability to encourage collaborative learning which is learner centered as opposed to teacher centered and it also encourages collaborative learning (Cornelius and Gordon (2008). Hence acquisition of knowledge is effective when students are personally involved in the subject matter and the role of the facilitator is just that of a facilitator (Ashlock, S. 1999). If CMS is used effectively, it can assist the teachers to develop an environment where the learners are able to interact and achieve their goals. Student engagement is a critical factor to ensure that the student is retained within the learning institution until completion of studies (Zhao and Kuh, (2004). This is especially so when it relates to distance mode of learning (Angelino et. al (2007). CMS has the ability to extend learning experiences by providing learning by deed or by sight experiences. Student Retention All learning institution invests time and effort on student retention activities as it is cost effective effort and benefits the organisation financially. The most referred to theory on student retention was forwarded by Tinto (1975) “Student Integration Model” (SIM) of attrition which was designed to offer a longitudinal model which explains all aspects Lifelong Learning International Conference 2010 (3LInC’10) / 3
and processes that influences an individual’s decision to leave a learning institution or otherwise, and how these processes interact ultimately to produce attrition. The conditions that stand supportive of retentions are expectation, advice, support, involvement, and learning. Learners are more likely to persist and graduate in settings that help them to succeed (McCracken 2008). These settings and/or learning environments would provide for academic, social and personal support (Tinto, 2002). The researcher will explore as to whether Moodle is able to provide academic, social and personal support. The research will confirm whether the contents and materials relevant to the programme made available on the system satisfies the academic support. On the social account, whether the interaction between other students on-line provides a support group environment. Finally on the basis of personal support, does Moodle provide an avenue for such a support to be available to the student? In addition, is Moodle able to foster learning? Continuous learning has always been the key to student retention. Hence student who are able to gain knowledge are the students who stay. Benefits of Moodle Moodle provides a means to address pedagogical challenges. It is argued that systems like Moodle, Blackboard and others could assist in the provision of efficient teaching and learning opportunities to students who find themselves in large classroom setting where personal attention is near to impossible (Hoskins and van Hooff, 2005). There are researches which indicate that students participated in active learning due to incorporation of technology i.e. Moodle and Blackboard (Laird and Kuh 2005; Hu and Kuh 2001). Bangert (2004) argue that the communication of student and faculty motivates a student to perform outstandingly. The researcher would like to explore whether the features of Moodle has the ability to provide greater means of conveying classroom materials to students more effectively (Umbach and Wawrzynski, 2005). The most important benefit to the learners is that this environment overcomes the logistics limitation; a student is able to work at his/her own time, pace and location (Bangert 2004; Caruso, 2006). Challenges of Moodle The most important challenge that course management systems pose to learning institutions is that organisations may deem the implementation of such extended system puts a dent (Lass, D et al., (2007) to their pocket. These additional costs may not be transferred on to the students as the tuition fee may not be competitive with that of the competition. Hence the conventional method of “chalk and talk” is retained. There are some who are not convinced on the positive educational benefits that can be obtained through the usage of CMSs (Lass,D et al., (2007)). In general, there are two main challenges in evaluating the costs and benefits of CMS adoption. First, the benefits are easier to identify but difficult to state in dollars worth (Harrington, C.F. et al.,2004). How would one justify the value it gives to the students learning experience? Second, the cost figures are typically underestimated due to the omission of the indirect costs of adoption. The success of the usage of system like Moodle has been argued to be reliant on the infrastructure that hosts the system. It has to be fast and efficient. At the educators end the materials must be uploaded with ease and relatively quick and if there was delay in this, the manager of the subject matter may be Lifelong Learning International Conference 2010 (3LInC’10) / 4
reluctant to use the system. Equally on the learner’s end if the learner is not able to download the materials with ease and relatively fast that would make the students not to rely on the system and hence the whole learning experience will have a bad after taste (Caruso, 2006). The implementation of the system as was discussed in Harrington et. al 2006, often faces resistance in terms of faculty being able to handle such new and dynamic demands. The under utilization of the features in such systems is another concern. According to Malikowski, 2008 the system is mainly used to transmit documents to student, communicate asynchronously, quiz students, use as drop box to exchange files with students and survey students which again relates to the preparedness of the instructor as well as the student to . Method The investigator will distribute questionnaires to undergraduate students from the School of Business to determine the level of engagement students derive through the use of Moodle in their studies in the University and the factors that influences them to continue as a student of the University. In addition a focus group will also be formed to further understand the factors related to engagement and retention. Conclusion
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