Title:	DETERMINING FACTORS OF STUDENTS’ PERCEIVED USEFULNESS OF E-LEARNING IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Author(s):	Aleksander Aristovnik, Damijana Kerži?, Nina Tomaževi?, Lan Umek
ISBN:	978-989-8533-51-7
Editors:	Miguel Baptista Nunes and Maggie McPherson
Year:	2016
Edition:	Single
Keywords:	e-learning, blended learning, usefulness of e-course, questionnaire analysis, public administration education
Type:	Full Paper
First Page:	3
Last Page:	10
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	Blended learning is already a strongly established way of teaching in higher education. In support of face-to-face teaching, e-courses may vary in structure, assignments, prompt examinations, interaction between students and teachers etc. In the paper, we present an analysis of factors that influence the usefulness of e-courses as perceived by students. A survey was conducted among students of the public administration programme at the Faculty of Public Administration, University of Ljubljana. Students evaluated 13 different aspects of e-courses in which they were enrolled. These aspects were assessed on a 7-point opinion scale. Results obtained in the survey were connected with certain demographic data, such as gender, high school final grade, year of study, study programme etc. A multiple linear regression was used with perceived usefulness as the response (dependent) variable and the 12 other e-course aspects as predictors (independent) variables. Further, the same regression analysis was performed on different subgroups of students based on demographical data and analysed where the impacts differ from the results for the whole sample. The empirical results showed that the general impression regarding the e-courses, their consistency with the face-to-face teaching and the teacher’s responsiveness had a significant influence on the students’ perception of the usefulness. On the other hand, the structure of an e-course and the variety of different assignments did not have a significant impact on perceived usefulness. Further analysis based on demographic data revealed several interesting subgroups of students where the perception of usefulness was influenced by completely different aspects compared to the results for the whole sample. The results may help teachers with managing the content and structure of an e-course and, as assumed, improve the perceived usefulness of blended learning for different subgroups of students.
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