- Title
- The effect of using online discussion forums in blended learning courses at Saudi universities
- Creator
- Alzahrani, Majed Gharmallah
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2016
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- This study aimed to investigate the effect of using online discussion forums (ODFs) in blended learning courses at Saudi universities. Three major aims were investigated: the effectiveness of using ODFs on students’ learning, academic staff and students’ satisfaction with using ODFs, and the dimensions affecting student participation in ODFs. A mixed methods design was used in two phases to achieve the aims of this study. The first phase aimed to investigate opinions academic staff and students have on the three major aims of this study across four Saudi universities. Online surveys were used to collect the data for this purpose. This phase involved 642 academic staff and 3056 students. The second phase initially aimed to investigate opinions academic staff and students have on the same three major aims, but in only one of these universities by using the same online surveys. Then, an experiment was conducted at this university to empirically investigate two sub aims: the effect of using ODFs on students’ achievement, and the effect of using ODFs on academic staff and students’ satisfaction. To collect the data for the first aim, pre/post achievement tests and statistical data from ODFs were used while posted online surveys were used to collect the data for the second aim. Finally, in this phase of the study, an in-depth investigation of student experiences of using ODFs was conducted through semi-structured interviews, particularly in order to deeply investigate the dimensions affecting student participation in ODFs. In this phase, three academic staff and 138 students were involved. The results of the two phases of the study were triangulated and discussed. These results revealed that using ODFs to enhance traditional learning in a blended learning environment is likely to affect students’ learning positively. The results also revealed that both academic staff and students at Saudi universities were satisfied with using ODFs. The experience of ICT and online education had a significant relationship with opinions academic staff and students have towards the effectiveness of using ODFs in blended learning courses, as well as with their satisfaction with using ODFs. However, factors such as cultural barriers and the traditionalism of the pedagogical practice of academic staff may make some students resistant to adopting ODFs and less satisfied with using them. Empirically, the results also revealed that using ODFs did significantly contribute to the students’ achievement. The social interaction and the collaborative nature inherent in ODFs, as well as the active learning in blended learning courses, were likely to be the possible reasons for increasing students’ achievement significantly. While both academic staff and students were found to be satisfied with using ODFs in the second phase of the study, the empirical results revealed that using ODFs had not increased their satisfaction significantly, although academic staff had a slightly higher post-satisfaction. Institutional support appeared to be a crucial element affecting academic staff satisfaction, whereas interaction level, course design, and technical issues may affect student satisfaction with using ODFs. The results also revealed that the suggested dimensions in the present study that are likely to affect student participation in ODFs were perceived to be important by both academic staff and students across the four universities. Finally, the implications and limitations of the present study were identified and future research was suggested.
- Subject
- online discussion forums; blended learning; higher education; Saudi Arabia
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1311958
- Identifier
- uon:22330
- Rights
- Copyright 2016 Majed Gharmallah Alzahrani
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
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| View Details Download | ATTACHMENT02 | Thesis | 3 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |