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Title:
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IMPROVING THE PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS IN COMPUTER NETWORKING SYSTEMS BY IMPLEMENTING A BLENDED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT SENSITIVE TO THEIR LEARNING STYLES |
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Author(s):
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Van Aardt Christoffel, Roelien Goede, Estelle Taylor |
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ISBN:
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978-972-8939-38-0 |
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Editors:
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Miguel Baptista Nunes and Pedro Isaías |
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Year:
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2011 |
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Edition:
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Volume I |
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Keywords:
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Learning styles, blended learning, e-learning, action research, web usage analysis |
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Type:
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Full Paper |
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First Page:
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126 |
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Last Page:
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132 |
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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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Computer Networking Systems engineering students at the Vaal University of Technology in South Africa experienced difficulties in passing their Networking Systems module. The aim of this research project was to increase the performance of these students. A literature review on learning and learning styles was done, followed by an interpretive study on the students learning styles and their readiness for e-learning. E-learning material, specifically catering for different learning styles, was developed. Analysis of the intervention was done in three phases. Firstly, web-logs of the learning management system were analysed to gain insights into the usage of e-learning material by students involved. Secondly, correlation of time spent on the e-learning material and the marks obtained by these students in formative and summative evaluations were tested statistically, and thirdly, an interpretive questionnaire was used to understand the attitude of the students towards the e-learning material. The conclusion of the paper focuses on the success of the blended learning environment, as the performance of the students improved. From a research methodology perspective, the project could be seen as an action research project using mixed methods. |
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