Date of Award

Fall 12-2008

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Leadership and Research

Committee Chair

Thomas Lipscomb

Committee Member 2

James T. Johnson

Committee Member 3

Kyna Shelley

Committee Member 4

Aubrey Lucas

Committee Member 5

Joe Paul

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between a student's environment in an online course and their academic achievement. This study surveyed students who completed world literature classes in an online format that were part of their universities' general education curricula. Students responded to items assessing several constructs and personal demographic variables that together defined their learning environments: content, delivery, assessment and feedback, technical support, learner experience with technology, learner experience with distance learning, interaction, physical space, support network, characteristics of adult learners, and major. Academic achievement was the dependent variable and was defined as anticipated grade in the course. Using Spearman correlations, Mann-Whitney tests, and Multinominal Regression, the independent variables and constructs were analyzed for their relationship to the dependent variable. Interaction, physical space and major showed positive correlations with anticipated grade, In ancillary findings, all independent variables were found to have positive correlations with respondents' perceptions of having learned the course content.

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