The Role of Familiarity with Distance Education and Online Attendance in the Relationship Between Motivation and Success in Online Courses

Abstract

As distance education has expanded over time, the need to examine the variables affecting students' learning outcomes in distance or hybrid learning environments has also increased. Accordingly, this study focused on academic motivation and familiarity with distance education, which are thought to influence the academic achievement of distance education students. The study also investigated the mediating roles of online attendance and familiarity with distance education in the relationship between academic motivation and achievement. This cross-sectional, explanatory correlational study examined 218 pre-service teachers in the Faculty of Education at a university. The study group consisted of 218 pre-service teachers at the Faculty of Education. The Academic Motivation Scale and the Attitude Scale toward Distance Education were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were conducted to assess the assumptions of multivariate statistics. Subsequently, a multiple mediation analysis was performed using the macro developed by Hayes (2012) to examine the effects of the mediating variables. The findings indicate that students’ online attendance in and familiarity with distance education jointly mediate the relationship between academic motivation and achievement. Furthermore, when controlling for familiarity with distance learning, the online attendance variable continues to mediate this relationship, whereas familiarity with distance education does not show a significant mediating effect. Based on the research results, suggestions were made to enhance student motivation and promote consistent online attendance in distance education courses.

Keywords

• Academic motivation
• Online attendance
• Online course success
• Familiarity with distance education

Online Derslerde Motivasyon ve Başarı Arasındaki İlişkide Uzaktan Eğitime Yatkınlık ve Online Katılımın Rolü

Abstract

Uzaktan eğitimin zamanla artması öğrencilerin uzaktan ya da harmanlanmış öğrenme ortamlarındaki öğrenme yeterliliklerini etkileyen değişkenleri inceleme ihtiyacını arttırmaktadır. Bu sebeple çalışmada uzaktan eğitim alan öğrencilerin ders başarılarında etkili olduğu düşünülen akademik motivasyon ve uzaktan eğitime yatkınlık kavramları ele alınmış ve başarı ile akademik motivasyon arasındaki ilişkide derslere eş zamanlı katılım ve uzaktan eğitime yatkınlık değişkenlerinin aracılık rolleri araştırılmak istenmiştir. Aracılık analizi ile değişkenler arasındaki doğrudan ve dolaylı ilişkilerin incelendiği araştırma nicel desen çatısında yer alan ilişkisel bir araştırmadır. Çalışma grubunu Türkiye’de bir yükseköğretim kurumundaki Eğitim Fakültesinde yer alan 218 öğretmen adayı oluşturmaktadır. Araştırmada veri toplama aracı olarak Akademik Motivasyon Ölçeği ve Uzaktan Eğitime Yönelik Görüşler Ölçeği kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde öncelikle çok değişkenli istatistiklerin varsayımlarının test edilmesi için betimsel istatistikler ve korelasyon değerleri incelenmiştir. Ardından aracı değişkenlerin etkisinin test edilmesi için Hayes (2012) tarafından geliştirilen makro ile çoklu aracılık analizi yapılmıştır. Araştırma bulguları; öğrencilerin uzaktan eğitime yatkınlık ve katılım düzeylerinin birlikte akademik motivasyonları ile ders başarıları arasındaki ilişkide aracılık rolüne sahip olduğunu göstermektedir. Ayrıca, uzaktan eğitime yatkınlık değişkeni kontrol edildiğinde de katılım değişkeni bu ilişkiye aracılık etmektedir. Aynı şey uzaktan eğitime yatkınlık değişkeni için söylenemez. Tartışma kısmında öğretmenlerin derse katılımı artırmak için sınıflarında neler yapabileceklerine dair bazı pedagojik çıkarımlar sağlamıştır.

Keywords

• Akademik motivasyon
• Çevrim-içi ders katılımı
• Çevrim-içi ders başarısı
• Uzaktan eğitime yatkınlık

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