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Title:
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DEVELOPING A SYSTEM OF PRE-QUALIFYING ONLINE STUDENTS USING ACTIVITY THEORY |
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Author(s):
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Jose Rene Tubilleja |
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ISBN:
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978-989-8704-03-0 |
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Editors:
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Piet Kommers and Pedro Isaías |
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Year:
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2014 |
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Edition:
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Single |
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Keywords:
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Online education, pre-qualifying exam, activity theory, CHAT, systems analysis. |
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Type:
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Full Paper |
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First Page:
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151 |
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Last Page:
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161 |
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Language:
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English |
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Cover:
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Full Contents:
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click to dowload 
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Paper Abstract:
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This study shows that because there are no entrance exams or pre-qualifying tests administered specifically to online students, there is no way to assure their success and persistence in this platform of education. It is assumed that students who have been admitted to traditional colleges are automatically qualified to take an online course. This study finds that the cause of failure or weakness of the current system is in not properly identifying the factors that determine students success, prior to allowing them to enroll in online courses. There is a conflict between the needs of students to succeed in online education and the needs of the institution to increase enrollment in online education programs. By using Activity Theory to analyze the elements that are party to this conflict and the levels of interaction between them, the study is able to objectively place the fault on the system itself and so take away the blame from the parties to the conflict. By analyzing previous studies related to the persistence of students already in the online program, this study discovers the factors most important to students in helping them persevere through the special challenges of online education. It proposes that such factors be used in building an entrance exam for potential online students, so they could be classified as qualified to proceed, or as needing remedial mentoring and/or counseling, or as not qualified based on their current status. Success in online education can therefore not only be predicted with more accuracy, but the online education system itself can be improved to meet the needs derived from the factors discovered in this study. |
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