shows that students in
all learning style categories ranked the use of Blackboard favorably.
However, students with aural learning style consistently ranked
most of the features lower and ranked four areas below average.
Students ranked more efficient communications between the instructor
and students and more preparedness for the class, assignments and
exams as the two most favorable features.
provides the students' evaluation
of Blackboard features as well as more traditional teaching techniques.
The visual and kinesthetic learning groups evaluated the online
features, in-class review of the homework, in-class lectures, and
online quizzes higher than the other two groups.
The features of the course that was most useful. . .
The students found the graded assignments and posted answers for
the online quizzes to be the most useful techniques. Some students
indicate that they do not take the quiz unless the results are graded
and simply select any answers to obtain the online quiz answers.
The next series of questions asked students what activities not
currently used in Blackboard would improve the course; see
. Based on the students' likelihood of use of new materials
and the time required to develop materials, the instructor can develop
future supplementary materials to enhance their online course.
Visual learners consistently ranked the use
of additional Blackboard features as improving the course higher
than did the other learning styles. All students felt that online
review quizzes for each chapter and online exercises or short problems
would improve the course.
The following features would improve the course. . .
| |
All students
|
Read/Write
|
Kinesthetic
|
Aural
|
Visual
|
| Online review quizzes for each
chapter |
5.78 (1.24)
|
5.79(1.41)
|
5.62(.87)
|
5.73(.90)
|
6.13(1.13)
|
| Online exercises or short problems that provide
hints on how to solve |
5.38 (1.43)
|
5.27(1.51)
|
5.38(1.50)
|
5.27(1.10)
|
6.25(.89)
|
| Student posting of questions to discussion
board and instructor responding |
4.87 (1.66)
|
4.94(1.71)
|
4.38(1.61)
|
4.91(1.51)
|
5.75(.71)
|
| Interactive online video in which you answer
questions or do exercises throughout the video |
4.55 (1.66)
|
4.61(1.84)
|
4.62(1.56)
|
4.18(1.72)
|
4.88(1.55)
|
| Student posting of questions to discussion
board and students responding |
4.04 (1.85)
|
3.91(1.99)
|
3.46(1.45)
|
4.18(1.72)
|
4.13(1.89)
|
| Links to other web sites |
3.73 (1.80)
|
3.67(1.91)
|
4.15(1.46)
|
3.55(1.63)
|
4.5(1.77)
|
| Online discussions |
3.40 (1.58)
|
3.45(1.75)
|
2.92(1.50)
|
3.09(1.14)
|
4.38(.92)
|
| Online videos |
3.24 (1.53)
|
3.03(1.59)
|
3.08(1.12)
|
3.00(1.18)
|
4.13(1.55)
|
Scale:
7-point Likert: 1=No improvement 2 3 4 5 6 7=Significant improvement
|
Table 4: Student
Evaluation Responses to Optional Features of Blackboard
|
|
Mean (Standard
Deviation)
|
I would likely use the following features of an online course
on my own. . .
| |
All students
|
Read/Write
|
Kinesthetic
|
Aural
|
Visual
|
| Online review quizzes for each
chapter |
2.80 (1.95)
|
2.79(2.10)
|
3.62(1.98)
|
3.18(2.32)
|
3.00(1.77)
|
| Online exercises or short problems that
provide hints on how to solve |
2.96 (1.95)
|
2.85(2.08)
|
3.92(2.02)
|
3.82(1.83)
|
2.63(2.13)
|
| Student posting of questions to discussion
board and instructor responding |
3.35 (1.93)
|
3.18(2.04)
|
4.62(1.56)
|
4.09(1.81)
|
3.13(2.30)
|
| Online PowerPoint® outlines |
3.67 (1.89)
|
3.48(1.86)
|
4.08(1.50)
|
4.45(2.11)
|
3.50(1.85)
|
| Student posting of questions to discussion
board and students responding |
3.75 (1.91)
|
3.55(2.17)
|
4.08(1.85)
|
3.73(1.62)
|
5.00(1.31)
|
| Online videos |
4.15 (1.97)
|
4.15(2.06)
|
4.15(1.57)
|
5.27(1.56)
|
2.88(1.46)
|
| Online discussions |
4.24 (1.78)
|
4.30(2.07)
|
4.77(1.42)
|
4.63(1.50)
|
3.63(1.19)
|
I would likely use the following features of an online course
if homework points were assigned to each of the items..
| |
All students
|
Read/Write
|
Kinesthetic
|
Aural
|
Visual
|
| Online review quizzes for each
chapter |
2.31 (2.07)
|
2.24(2.15)
|
3.00(2.45)
|
2.36(2.16)
|
2.75(2.31)
|
| Online exercises or short problems that
provide hints on how to solve |
2.33 (2.09)
|
2.33(2.15)
|
3.08(2.53)
|
2.45(2.11)
|
2.38(2.26)
|
| Student posting of questions to discussion
board and instructor responding |
2.56 (2.05)
|
2.39(2.08)
|
3.23(2.45)
|
2.91(2.02)
|
3.25(2.43)
|
| Online PowerPoint® outlines |
2.60 (2.18)
|
2.39 (2.15)
|
3.15(2.58)
|
3.00(2.32)
|
2.88(2.17)
|
| Online videos |
2.95 (2.24)
|
2.82(2.35)
|
3.08(2.18)
|
3.45(2.34)
|
3.25(2.05)
|
| Student posting of questions to discussion
board and students responding |
2.96 (2.16)
|
3.00 (2.30)
|
3.38(2.18)
|
2.82(1.83)
|
4.25(1.98)
|
| Online discussions |
2.98 (2.22)
|
2.97(2.39)
|
3.46(2.33)
|
3.27(2.05)
|
3.38(1.92)
|
Scale: 7-point
Likert: 1=Very Likely 2 3 4 5 7=Very Unlikely
The final series of questions, in
Table 4,
asked the students what features they were most likely to use
on their own or when homework points were assigned. All respondents,
except visual learners, indicated that they would more likely
use the features if the instructor assigned homework points to
the activities. Interestingly, the visual learners ranked the
potential use of online videos and discussions higher for use
on their own than if the instructor assigned grades.
The item students would most likely use were online review quizzes
for each chapter and online exercises or short problems that provide
hints on how to solve. The students ranked the use of the videos
and discussion boards as least useful. The overall ranking of
likelihood of use of these items was similar for the students'
use on their own or if the instructor assigned points. However,
the likelihood of use does increase if the instructor attaches
points to the item.
To determine if the mean response was significantly different
between the groups, we analyzed the response of each questions
through a multiple comparison procedure that used the Tukey method,
a stringent procedure for controlling Type I experiment wise error
rate. Although a parametric
t test assumes that all samples
have normal distribution, a
t test has the same power as
a nonparametric test when used with Likert scale data (Conover
1999)
4.
The only question that had a mean response that was significantly
different between groups was from
Table 4;
"I would likely use the following features of an online course
on my own…online videos". The visual learners were significantly
(at the 5% level) more likely to prefer online videos for learning
as compared to the read/write group. We also analyzed the responses
after deleting all bi-modal learners from the sample. The previous
question remained significant and one other question in Table
4 became significant; "I would likely use the following features
of an online course on my own…student posting of questions to
discussion board and instructor responding." This indicates visual
learners are significantly (at the 5% level) more likely to use
a discussion board than aural learners.
Small sample size leads to a larger variance for each sample that,
in turn, leads to a higher probability of non-rejection of a
t
test. Although many of the responses between groups are not
statistically significant, a review of the mean responses discussed
above is logical considering the type of learning tool in conjunction
with learning style. Future research with a larger sample size
would strengthen the above findings.
Summary
Students appear to favorably rank the use of Blackboard and rank
the electronic grade book, accessibility of materials, and ease
to use the system as the most favorable features. To enhance learning
in accounting, students appear to prefer the use of online review
quizzes and exercises or problems with solutions. The students
did not prefer the use of online videos or discussion boards.
The use of Blackboard appears to be a valuable tool in the introductory
accounting course based on the highly favorable evaluations of
the students. Other instructors who use course management systems
should further investigate this area to ascertain whether the
use of supplemental materials on Blackboard does, in fact, enhance
the learning process.
References
Conover, W. J. 1999.
Practical nonparametric statistics.
New York: Wiley.
Diaz, David, and R. B. Cartnal, 1999, "Students' learning styles
in two classes: Online distance learning and equivalent on-campus,"
College Teaching, 47 (4), 130-135.
Dille, B., and M. Mezack, 1991, "Identifying predictors of high
risk among community college telecourse students,"
The American
Journal of Distance Education, 5(1), 24-35.
Fleming, N.D. and C. Mills, 1992, "Helping students understand
how they learn,"
The Teaching Professor, 7 (4), Magman
Publications, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Gee, D, 1990, "The impact of students' preferred learning style
variables in a distance education course: A case study," Portales:
Eastern New Mexico University. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service
No. ED 358 836).
Ross, J. and R. Schulz, 1999, "Using the World Wide Web to accommodate
diverse learning styles,"
College Teaching, 47 (4), 123-129.
Segovia, J., 2002, "The Use of Blackboard
in Accounting Courses",
working paper, Minnesota State
University Moorhead.
ENDNOTES1 Segovia, J., 2002, "The Use of Blackboard® in Accounting
Courses", Accounting Instructor's Report, Fall, 2002
http://www.college.hmco.com/accounting/resources/instructors/air/fall_2002/blackboard.html2 See Fleming and Mills 1992, pp. 140-141 for definition
and recommended use of text materials.
3 According to Fleming, 50% to 90% of a class will
be multi-modal and need to process information in more than one
mode to get effective understanding. Therefore, to evaluate the
results of the survey, these eleven students were classified in
both groups. Three students were aural and kinesthetic, three
students were kinesthetic and read/write, three students were
kinesthetic and visual, one student was aural and visual and one
student was aural and read/write.
4 All results were also analyzed with the nonparametric
Kruskal-Wallis test that produced the same results.
