Abstract
How to effectively support students’ successful learning outcomes is one of the persistent problems of online and distance learning. One promising approach to this issue is to investigate the extent that learning is determined by learner characteristics and skills. This study explores the effects of domain-specific prior knowledge, intrinsic motivation, computer attitude, computer anxiety and learning management skills on learning in a distance-training course about media pedagogy for teachers. The data were collected from 127 trainee teachers who responded to various questionnaires and completed knowledge tests. We investigated whether the selected characteristics of learners could be used to model five cognitive load assessments that included ratings of content difficulty, learning ease, experienced pressure/tension, effort/importance while learning, and performing on tests. Computer anxiety and computer attitude were significant predictors of content difficulty, learning ease, and experienced pressure/tension. In addition, learning strategy usage reduced ratings of content difficulty. Effort/importance ratings were best modelled by intrinsic motivation and learning strategy usage. Performance was best predicted by prior knowledge, intrinsic motivation, and computer attitude.
Highlights
Distance and online learning have become common and reputable educational methods in vocational training and higher education (e.g., Allen and Seaman, 2016)
We focused on the relationship between student characteristics and learning success and conducted analyses with data gathered from trainee teachers in a script-based distance course about media pedagogy
This study explored the extent that important learner characteristics help students succeed and to propose how to prepare distance courses based on the results
Summary
Distance and online learning have become common and reputable educational methods in vocational training and higher education (e.g., Allen and Seaman, 2016). Numerous studies investigating theoretical and applied aspects of distance and online learning have been published. To gain insight into this problem, one line of research has focused on the characteristics and skills of distance and online learners and the extent to which they predict learning processes and outcomes. We investigated the extent to which a selected set of learner characteristics affect cognitive load of trainee teachers while learning and performing in a script-based distance-training course about media pedagogy. Domain-specific prior knowledge, intrinsic motivation, computer attitude, computer anxiety, and learning strategies were selected, because all of them have shown to be relevant for distance and online learning in empirical studies, and they represent cognitive, motivational, affective, and skill aspects. As theoretical background of the current study, the cognitive load theory (CLT) was chosen (Sweller, 2010)
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