Are students studying in the online mode faring as well as students studying in the face - to - face mode? Has equivalence in learning been achieved?

With the shift in pedagogy from learning in the traditional classroom setting (face-to face mode) to online learning, it is important to find out how students are faring in the online mode and if equivalence in learning is achieved in the two modes. To answer these questions, the course results of students studying a first year undergraduate mathematics course in the two different modes at The University of the South Pacific were compared. The study revealed that there was no statistical significant difference in the pass rates of the students studying in the two modes but the students studying in the online mode had a significantly higher attrition rate. From the results, it was also discovered that students studying via the online mode achieved higher coursework marks but lower exam marks compared to students studying via the face to-face mode. Yet the students’ total marks in the two modes were similar, which led to the conclusion that students studying in the online mode are faring just as well as students studying in the face-to-face mode. It was evident that equivalent learning was occurring in the two modes albeit in different ways. The coursework assessments methods in the two modes were also compared

OMDT: Online Mathematics Diagnostic Tool Report – 2019

The Pacific region faces an acute problem of numeracy skills. This is due to various factors such as resources, unqualified mathematics teachers, different curriculum in the countries and their coverage, lack of localized textbooks and learning materials, and many more. Consequently, students are deprived of good mathematics and sometimes certain mathematics topics are compromised. They arrive for their tertiary journeys with different levels of mathematics, many of them are already in the at-risk category even before they join the university, and hence are set to fail in their programmes right from the start. All these invariably show the dire and genuine need for OMDT

OMDT Design and Implementation Documentation

The purpose of this document is to outline the requirements, design and development of the Online Mathematics Diagnostic Tool (OMDT) while helping the client obtain a better understanding of the project. The intended audience for this document is the Learning Management System (LMS) Team at The University of the South Pacific (USP) and the Faculty of Science Technology and Environment (FSTE) Administration Office. Within this document, readers can find information about our general project concepts, a list of functional and non-functional requirements, examples of our graphical user interfaces (GUI), as well as information on the implementation schedule

Fostering and evaluating learner engagement with academic literacy support: making the most of Moodle

This paper reports on the evaluation of an ambitious attempt to embed academic literacy support within a core content course for first-year students at the University of the South Pacific. The course is offered in both blended and online modes, catering for on-campus and off-campus students, respectively, using Moodle as the virtual learning environment (VLE). We begin by explaining how we have made the most of Moodle as a learning platform, enabling us to supplement the core content resources with additional components that support students’ academic literacy development, rather than sacrificing content to create this space. Since the additional material is embedded into the main learning design of the course, students acquire academic literacy within the disciplinary context of their academic programme, rather than through standalone ‘study skills’ provision that is devoid of content. We then devote the majority of the paper to discussing the evaluation of this course design, again explaining how we have made the most of Moodle to do so. We have used learning analytics data from Moodle tracking and completion reports to calculate engagement scores for each student, focusing on a composite of their access to resources, their compliance with sequencing and timing, their investment in activities, and their overall achievement. We have then examined the extent to which the different elements of engagement appear to impact achievement in assignments, demonstrating that the students who achieved the highest grades were those who accessed more materials, kept up with the intended schedule, and invested more than they needed to in activities, despite no immediate rewards for doing so

An investigation of the validity of course-based online assessment methods: The role of computer-related attitudes and assessment mode preferences

The use of e-assessment methods raises important concerns regarding the reliability and validity of these methods. Potential threats to validity include mode effects and the possible influence of computer-related attitudes. While numerous studies have now investigated the validity of online assessments in non-course-based contexts, few studies have addressed this issue in an educational context. The present study helps fill this research gap by investigating whether university students' computer-related attitudes and assessment mode preferences were related to performance on a course-based online assessment task. Overall, students' attitudes and preferences bore no greater relationships to performance on the online than offline module assessment tasks. This provides support for the validity of course-based online assessment methods and should help alleviate educators' concerns and encourage more widespread adoption of these methods, helping address the issue of their slow uptake to date. Suggestions for follow-up studies to corroborate and extend the current findings are offered

Determining the optimum strata boundaries with constant cost factor

The aim of survey design is to obtain optimum precision at minimum cost. Stratification is one of the commonly used methods of survey design. When using stratification one of the main problems to consider is the determination of optimum strata boundaries. This paper will discuss how to determine the optimum strata boundaries when the measurement cost per units varies across the strata. The problem is formulated as a mathematical programming problem and solved to obtain the strata width, which is then used to calculate the optimum strata boundaries. A numerical example using exponential study variables is presented to illustrate computational details of the procedure

OMDT: Online Mathematics Diagnostic Tool Report – 2017

The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a regional multi-campus institution operating since 1968 populating its 14 campuses and 10 centers spread in its 12 member countries over an area of 30 million square kilometers of the Pacific Ocean. The university is constituted to make premium higher education available to all its member countries. However, together with factors such as the geographical spread of the member countries, English being the 2nd or even 3rd language, under qualified teachers, untrained teachers and lack of localized text, the non-uniform secondary school education of its students heavily impact the university’s aspiration of quality education for all. The latter invariably affects the student retention which currently averages around 70% at the first year level. To address this issue the Faculty of Science, Technology and Environment (FSTE) works to include effective and efficient pedagogical tools and technologies, mostly designing in-house so that these are customized and contextualized for its unique eduscape in the Pacific region. Students come to USP with different level of mathematics skills. Thus to ensure that students begin their first year degree courses on an equal platform, the University has developed the Online Mathematics Diagnostic Tool (OMDT) to bridge mathematics gaps from secondary to tertiary education. This is very important to the university as most of its courses require some knowledge of mathematics. This new cutting-edge pedagogical tool, timely diagnoses knowledge gaps of its first year students who come from different countries in the Pacific region, and based on their individual performances, it automatically directs students to relevant remedial and corrective measures. The tool has built-in certification, rewards through gamification, surveys and analytics, support mechanisms, and online remedial modules crafted into a complete package. Below is the summary of the 2017 Semester 1 OMDT (OMDT1 and OMDT2) result from different campus and Modules. Note that OMDT1 is for Science students and OMDT2 is for Non-Science students

The online mathematics diagnostic tool for transformative learning in the Pacific

With advances in information and communication technology, students can be educated from anywhere at any time at their own pace. Students of the 21st century have different learning expectations. These expectations require the design of smart learning environments to ensure more effective and adaptive learning. This chapter essays an introduction to a new educational tool developed on the Moodle platform by The University of the South Pacific to bridge gaps in mathematics knowledge and skills as students’ transit from secondary to tertiary education. The tool, known as the Online Mathematics Diagnostic Tool (OMDT), is an intelligent system which provides online tests and automates personalized remediation. This chapter will include the reasons why this diagnostic tool has been developed for the Pacific region students aspiring for tertiary education. It will also discuss why the tool is considered as a smart learning environment (SLE) and how it ensures effective learning of mathematics