Ebeling, Ulf (2022) Early bird or late owl – when and how long do undergraduate medical students use e-learning modules? thesis, Medicine.
Full text available on request.Abstract
Why are lecture theatres empty whilst e-learning is flourishing and succeeds in becoming an integral part of medical school? We know that e-learning provides 24/7, agile access and flexible scheduling. However, only little is known on e-learning usage and study behavior. Aim of this report was to investigate the e-learning usage of undergraduate medical students. We analyzed the e-learning usage data from two academic years (2018-2020), including data from 565 multimedia e-learning modules focusing on a particular medical topic. Educational data mining approaches were used to process the data and to subsequently identify patterns in access method and access time within 24 hours, the week, the academic year and around 77 summative examination moments. We obtained data from 71,023 e-learning sessions with 116,857 module visits and 1,496,660 individual page views. 92.5% of students access e-learning from a Desktop computer. Elearning gets used 7 days a week, between 9:00 and 16:00 on weekdays in an hourly rhythm and during evenings and weekends with a more uniform distribution. Overall usage follows the academic timetable. Before an exam e-learning usage increases with each day, almost doubling on the last day before the exam compared to the previous day. Students also study during weekends, but with a different rhythm and later start times. Study times, frequency and length differ substantially from the lecture schedule. These findings provide new insights into students’ studying patterns, which may help to match the educational program to the students’ need. This report indirectly reveals how valuable these insights are for objective analyses and the future of (e-)learning.
| Item Type: | Thesis (UNSPECIFIED) |
|---|---|
| Supervisor name: | Wietasch, Prof. Dr. Götz |
| Faculty: | Medical Sciences |
| Date Deposited: | 26 May 2023 11:45 |
| Last Modified: | 26 May 2023 11:45 |
| URI: | https://umcg.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3539 |
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