Review_of_Educational_Articles

Running Head: ARTICLE REVIEW 1 1 Article Review 1 DD ARTICLE REVIEW 1 2 Citation: Hawkins, Abigail, Graham, Charles R., Sudweeks, Richard R, and Barbour, Michael K (May 2013). Academic performance, course completion rates, and student perception of the quality and frequency of interaction in a virtual high school. Distance Education, 34(1), 64-83. doi:10.1080/01587919.2013.770430 The purpose of this study was to examine the idea of a relationship between student interaction with their teacher and the student’s performance as described by grades and completion of the course being taken. The authors used a correlational study with data collected from a survey of students who had been enrolled in a course in an online school, Electronic High School (EHS) in Utah. EHS is a self-paced, asynchronous virtual school that offers primarily supplemental courses. The authors hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation between the students’ performance and completion of the course and the quality and frequency of interaction with teachers, specifically the instructional interactions. Through analysis of the data collected, the authors determined that there was a positive correlation between the quality and frequency of interaction and student completion of the course, but no defined correlation between the interaction and the grade earned by the student. The data was collected using survey items incorporated into a survey used by EHS as an evaluation survey for the courses. Forty-six thousand, eighty-nine students that were enrolled in a course February, 2008 to January, 2009 were emailed an invitation to complete the survey and then twenty-one thousand, six hundred seventy students had access to the survey through a class evaluation survey after completing a course. Of the 2,269 surveys returned, over two-thirds represented female students and 84.4% Caucasian students. The sample was skewed toward those students that completed the course; 75.1% as compared to 34% of the overall completion rates as reported by EHS for the year covered. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was ARTICLE REVIEW 1 3 used to estimate the construct validity of the instrument used the survey. Preliminary analysis indicated that the items loaded to the intended factors within acceptable ranges. Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient, HLM, and hierarchical logistical regression were used to examine the relationship between the students’ report of interaction and the academic performance of the students. With Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient there was found to be a weak correlation between interaction and student achievement. It was shown that quality interaction had a higher correlation than frequency of interaction, however and there was a higher correlation to completion of course than to grade earned. The analysis using HLM also showed that there were dependencies in students with the same teacher. The perceived quality and frequency of interaction was also shown to have a positive correlation with completion of the course using hierarchical logistical regression. The authors concluded that the quality and frequency of interaction did have an impact on whether the student completed the course, but not on the grade earned by the student. They believed that finding no difference on the grade earned was due to limited variation in grades reported for those students that completed the course and the resubmission of assignment practices at EHS. It was also concluded that there were two main implications for teachers in online schools and similar environments. First, interaction does make a difference in course completion and should be kept at a high quality and frequency particularly in the beginning of the course. Second, teachers should be proactive with interactions with all students as interaction could be a factor in whether the student completes the course. ARTICLE REVIEW 1 4 The study is a correlational study, where a survey was used to gather data about the perceptions of students enrolled in an online course. The data analysis used methods to determine the correlation between the variables being studied, interaction of students and teachers and student achievement. As a correlational study, it cannot be assumed that one factor is the cause of another, but it is beneficial to see through this study the correlation between quality interaction and the completion of the course. If there is a difference in the minds of students, the quality of the interaction should be of interest to all educators, but it is important to be able to understand what constitutes quality interaction. Since there was no definition of quality interaction given in the study, the question of how to define quality interaction is raised. Are there ways to qualitatively determine the frequency and quality of interaction that provides for the greatest correlation' The study also raises a question of whether a similar study in other types of virtual online schools would yield similar results. This study was conducted with a self-paced, asynchronous, open-entry virtual school and the student population, teachers, and outcome of a similar study may vary with other types of virtual online schools. Educational psychology should give teachers the tools they need to make them effective leaders in the classroom and the school. Research such as that described in this study is a key to finding those principles and theories and that give teachers the best chance of helping their students to be successful. ARTICLE REVIEW 1 5 References Hawkins, Abigail, Graham, Charles R., Sudweeks, Richard R, and Barbour, Michael K (May 2013). Academic performance, course completion rates, and student perception of the quality and frequency of interaction in a virtual high school. Distance Education, 34(1), 64-83. doi:10.1080/01587919.2013.770430