Undergraduate Student Perceptions Regarding the Use of Educational Technology – A Case Study in a Statistics Service Course

Abstract

Background:Integrating theory with practice has become a mandatory requirement for universities of technology. Using educational technology to supplement traditional pedagogical approaches has contributed significantly to achieving this mandate. For example, computer based learning has helped students who experience difficulty in learning statistics at the university level to better understand specific statistical concepts.Materials and methods:This research uses an exploratory design, where one large group of undergraduate students (n=150) from the Vaal University of Technology were polled using an online questionnaire as the main data collection tool. Perceptions of undergraduate African students regarding the use of a wide variety of educational technologies in a statistics service course is presented.Results:The use of Microsoft Excel has helped many students to better understand descriptive statistics, which is one of the learning outcomes in the statistics course. The use of Microsoft PowerPoint has proved effective in helping students to grasp different visual displays of data types, which is another learning outcome specified for this course. The use of a local prescribed textbook provides practical native examples which are easy to understand.Conclusions:Using a blend of educational technologies within statistical education enriches student understanding and satisfaction in learning statistical concepts.