Using Tracking Data for Continuous Monitoring in Management Distance Learning Courses

INTRODUCTION Many studies in higher education focus on effectiveness of various instructional techniques to improve student achievement. Numerous studies have investigated effective methods that may continuously monitor student performance in an ongoing course. Meanwhile, the increasing popularity of distance learning courses in recent years also attracts academic attention to investigate education quality and instructional techniques of online courses. Instructional techniques that monitor student activities for effective learning have become even more important in the distance learning environment, where instructor-student interactions are limited to the cyber world. Despite the limitations imposed on in-person communication, the integrated technology used in distance education courses provides an advanced monitoring mechanism. Specifically, the advances in instructional systems enable instructors to apply comprehensive monitoring functions to access the accountability and comparability of students' progress in time. Instructors may continuously evaluate students' learning effectiveness, and take appropriate measures when red flags are raised. The objective of this study is to provide an exploratory analysis of the application of the tracking mechanism offered by Blackboard. By examining the relationship between monitoring data and student performance, the study attempts to investigate the effectiveness of the monitoring system, and to provide insights into the techniques that promote learning and teaching efficiency. In particular, this study uses tracking data automatically collected by Blackboard, a widely adopted course management system, to analyze the relationship between student effort and course performance. The findings would assist instructors to identify useful objective measures to continuously monitor student performance, and therefore provide in-time guidance for student progress in distance learning courses. LITERATURE REVIEW Distance Education Advances in information technology have brought many changes, including those in the higher education field. For instance, distance learning has become a new paradigm in education during the past two decades, as it offers higher flexibility to reach more students with temporal and spatial constrains. The 21st century has witnessed an increase in the number of distance learning courses offered by degree-granting postsecondary institutions (National Center for Education, 2008). Previous studies compare and contrast traditional education in classrooms and distance learning, but the findings are mixed. Since there are a wide variety of factors that may have influence on learning outcomes, it is more meaningful to study how to improve the instructional design rather than debate on the superiority of teaching mode. Any course could be designed differently, and could be more or less effective than its counterpart. For example, students generally achieve higher satisfaction and performance in an online learning community that facilitates the transfer of knowledge and promotes interaction (Conaway, Easton & Schmidt, 2005). In light of building an effective learning environment, online instructors may implement continuous monitoring mechanism as a strategy to track student progress, facilitate immediate feedback and guide the design of interactions. Technology advancements make it possible to implement richer communications to reach more audiences. Most students and instructors nowadays are proficient in computer operations and Internet technologies, which greatly reduces the technical barrier to adopt distance learning. The paradigm shift of education research is more prominent in the technology-enhanced education through cyber learning. Student Effort Previous research has examined the relationship between student effort and course performance. Testing the association between attempts made and amount of time on repeatable online quizzes, Johnson et al. …