Curriculum Performance Research Articles

Parental involvement in traditional and online education

While parental involvement benefits the learning performance of elementary students and the internet changes the learning environment, few studies have examined how parents are involved in the virtual world. This two-year project analysed the effects of parental involvement at home, in school and on internet use. The first stage of our research proposes an e-Homebook System, which provides a communication interface through internet for teachers, students and parents. The second stage analysed 13 classes in five different elementary schools to observe parental involvement in the e-Homebook System. At the same time, a questionnaire survey was used to collect data for parental involvement at home and school. The associations among parental background, parental involvement and student learning performance (evaluated as curricula performance, GPA) were then analysed. The analytical results indicated that parental involvement is significantly associated with student learning performance. The background of parents influenced involvement behaviour. Recommendations are suggested for the government, school and parents.