Dataset Information

How students choose E-learning resources: The importance of ease, familiarity, and convenience.

ABSTRACT: Electronic learning resources are popular with today's students. However, how students choose their favorite e-learning resources is not well-understood. The popular SecondLook TM histology self-review tool was offered in three different interfaces to students participating in two histology courses (Cell and Developmental Biology [CDB] 450/550 and DENT 510). These interfaces included PowerPoint files, an online website, and a mobile application (app). Identical in content, each interface had specific advantages and disadvantages with respect to compatible devices, user features, and access limitations. Upon the conclusion of the courses, students were surveyed about their interface preference, reasons for their selection, and general usage of the SecondLook TM resource. With a 91.4% overall survey participation rate, only 3 out of 213 participating students never used the resource. Many students (46.3% CDB 450/550, 62.9% DENT 510) tried only one interface, with PowerPoint being the most popular final choice (56.5% CBD 450/550, 65.7% DENT 510). Although the interactive website and mobile app offered additional user-friendly features, they only garnered between 16% and 24% final popularity. "Convenience," "larger screen," and "easy to use" were most often reported as reasons for students' interface preference. The accessibility of where and when the SecondLook TM resource can be used was also frequently cited. This availability encouraged some students to forgo other learning resources and to use the mobile app in distractive environments. The results of this study suggest that today's students are in fact less motivated to seek out high-tech e-learning resources than commonly believed and instead often select interfaces with which they are already familiar.

SUBMITTER: Bringman-Rodenbarger L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7211040 | biostudies-literature | 2020 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

How students choose E-learning resources: The importance of ease, familiarity, and convenience.

Bringman-Rodenbarger Lauren L Hortsch Michael M

FASEB bioAdvances 20200306 5

Electronic learning resources are popular with today's students. However, how students choose their favorite e-learning resources is not well-understood. The popular <i>SecondLook</i> <sup>TM</sup> histology self-review tool was offered in three different interfaces to students participating in two histology courses (Cell and Developmental Biology [CDB] 450/550 and DENT 510). These interfaces included PowerPoint files, an online website, and a mobile application (app). Identical in content, each ...[more]

PMID: 32395701

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundMedical students have access to a wide range of learning resources, many of which have been specifically developed for or identified and recommended to them by curriculum developers or teaching staff. There is an expectation that students will access and use these resources to support their self-directed learning. However, medical educators lack detailed and reliable data about which of these resources students use to support their learning and how this use relates to key learning events or activities.ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to comprehensively document first-year medical student selection and use of online learning resources to support their bioscience learning within a case-based curriculum and assess these data in relation to our expectations of student learning resource requirements and use.MethodsStudy data were drawn from 2 sources: a survey of student learning resource selection and use (2013 cohort; n=326) and access logs from the medical school learning platform (2012 cohort; n=337). The paper-based survey, which was distributed to all first-year students, was designed to assess the frequency and types of online learning resources accessed by students and included items about their perceptions of the usefulness, quality, and reliability of various resource types and sources. Of 237 surveys returned, 118 complete responses were analyzed (36.2% response rate). Usage logs from the learning platform for an entire semester were processed to provide estimates of first-year student resource use on an individual and cohort-wide basis according to method of access, resource type, and learning event.ResultsAccording to the survey data, students accessed learning resources via the learning platform several times per week on average, slightly more often than they did for resources from other online sources. Google and Wikipedia were the most frequently used nonuniversity sites, while scholarly information sites (eg, online journals and scholarly databases) were accessed relatively infrequently. Students were more likely to select learning resources based on the recommendation of peers than of teaching staff. The overwhelming majority of the approximately 70,000 resources accessed by students via the learning platform were lecture notes, with each accessed an average of 167 times. By comparison, recommended journal articles and (online) textbook chapters were accessed only 49 and 31 times, respectively. The number and type of learning resources accessed by students through the learning platform was highly variable, with a cluster analysis revealing that a quarter of students accessed very few resources in this way.ConclusionsMedical students have easy access to a wide range of quality learning resources, and while some make good use of the learning resources recommended to them, many ignore most and access the remaining ones infrequently. Learning analytics can provide useful measures of student resource access through university learning platforms but fails to account for resources accessed via external online sources or sharing of resources using social media.

Project description:BackgroundConsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, including fruit drinks (i.e., fruit-flavored drinks containing added sugar), contributes to childhood obesity.ObjectivesWe aimed to examine whether nutrition-related claims on fruit drinks influence purchasing among parents and lead to misperceptions of healthfulness.MethodsWe conducted an experiment in a virtual convenience store with 2219 parents of children ages 1-5 y. Parents were randomly assigned to view fruit drinks displaying 1 of 3 claims ("No artificial sweeteners," "100% Vitamin C," and "100% All Natural") or no claim (i.e., control group). Parents selected among each of 2 drinks for their young child: 1) a fruit drink or 100% juice (primary outcome), and 2) a fruit drink or water.ResultsWhen choosing between a fruit drink and 100% juice, 45% of parents who viewed the fruit drink with the "No artificial sweeteners" claim, 51% who viewed the "100% Vitamin C" claim, and 54% who viewed the "100% All Natural" claim selected the fruit drink, compared with 32% in the no-claim control group (all P < 0.001). "No artificial sweeteners" (Cohen's d = 0.13, P < 0.05) and "100% All Natural" (d = 0.15, P < 0.05) claims increased the likelihood of parents choosing the fruit drink instead of water but "100% Vitamin C" did not (P = 0.06). All claims made parents more likely to incorrectly believe that the fruit drinks contained no added sugar and were 100% juice than the control (d ranged from 0.26 to 0.84, all P < 0.001), as assessed in a posttest survey. The impact of claims on selection of the fruit drink (compared with 100% juice) did not vary by any of the moderators examined (e.g., race/ethnicity, income; all moderation P > 0.05).ConclusionsNutrition-related claims led parents to choose less healthy beverages for their children and misled them about the healthfulness of fruit drinks. Labeling regulations could mitigate misleading marketing of fruit drinks.This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT04381481.

Dataset Information

How students choose E-learning resources: The importance of ease, familiarity, and convenience.

Publications

How students choose E-learning resources: The importance of ease, familiarity, and convenience.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets