Abstract
This study aims at predicting undergraduate students' performance in the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) based on four time periods of the examined online course. This is to provide an early and continuous prediction of students' academic achievement. This research depends on data from one of the scientific courses at the Open University (OU) in Britain, which offers its lectures using VLE. The data investigated consists of 1938 students in which the influence of demographic and behavioral variables was explored first. Then, three features were generated to improve the prediction accuracy as well as examining the effect of learners' engagement on their academic performance. Accordingly, a comparison was made between the prediction accuracy of integrating the proposed features with the behavioral and demographic features and the use of the original features only. The findings suggest that some of the demographic variables and all behavioral features had a significant impact on students' performance. However, the accuracy was highly improved after using the new generated features. It was found that the level of the financial and service instability, level of participation in the course, assessment grades, the total number of clicks, the interaction with different course activities, and students' engagement were significant predictors of academic achievement.
Highlights
In contemporary education, universities aim at improving the quality of teaching and learning as well as enhancing students' performance [1]
Different educational modes are available such as Face to Face (F2F) learning, e-learning, blended learning, and online learning. The latter, becomes very popular in contemporary education [2]. It can be offered in many forms such as massive open online courses (MOOCs), virtual learning environments (VLE), and learning management systems (LMSs) [3]
This study aims at predicting students’ performance in an online learning setting, Virtual Learning Environment (VLE)
Summary
Universities aim at improving the quality of teaching and learning as well as enhancing students' performance [1]. Different educational modes are available such as Face to Face (F2F) learning, e-learning, blended learning, and online learning. The latter, becomes very popular in contemporary education [2]. The number of dropouts from online learning courses is higher than that in traditional learning [5] This is more evident in developing nations because leaners still face many barriers in adopting this learning form such as the lack of students’ motivation and the direct interaction between teachers and students as well as the absence of a learning atmosphere [6][7]. Teachers may face an issue in providing appropriate advice for students or changing the method of presenting learning content to meet learners’ preferences
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET)
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
