Analytics of time management strategies in online learning environments: a novel methodological approach

The emergence of technology-supported education, e.g., blended and online, has changed the global higher education landscape. Importantly, the new learning modes involve more complex tasks and challenging ways of learning that require effective time management and strong self-regulation skills. In this regard, one of the most prevalent theoretical lenses to understand learning processes is Self-Regulated Learning (SRL). In reference to SRL models, time is a major resource in learning. The way learners schedule, plan, and enact tactics and strategies on their learning time could tremendously impact their academic achievement. However, the assessment of how learners make time-related decisions in learning is a daunting task, particularly given its latent nature and inherent autonomous learning capacity. One way to address this problem is to make use of unprecedented volumes of data collected by digital learning environments that are precisely timestamped records of actions that learners take while studying. This thesis presents a set of novel learning analytics methods for detecting and understanding time management strategies based on the analysis of digital trace data collected in online learning environments. First, the thesis proposes a new method to detect time management tactics and strategies using a combination of sequence mining and clustering techniques. The thesis also describes how time management tactics and strategies detected with this method are aligned with an SRL model that is used as a theoretical foundation of this thesis. Second, the thesis introduces a novel learning analytics method for the detection of time management tactics and strategies. This method uses a combination of process mining and clustering techniques followed by a complementary process mining technique that has a unique feature to bring insights into the temporal learning processes. This new method also has a strong potential to inform and enhance understanding of how learners make complex decisions about their learning. Third, the thesis investigates mutual connections between time management and learning strategies and their combined connections with academic performance using epistemic network analysis. This analysis provides empirical evidence that supports the proposition that time management is a critical characteristic of effective self-regulated learners. Fourth, the thesis proposes a novel method that integrates computational and visualization techniques to explore the frequency, connections, ordering, and the time of the execution of time management and learning tactics, which usually been done in isolation in the existing literature. Then, the thesis quantitatively and theoretically compare time management and learning strategies detected with this new method to explore the role of time management and learning strategies in learning as drawing on theories of educational psychology. Fifth, this new method was validated in a study that was conducted on the trace data of different learning modalities and interaction modes, where large cohorts are involved. This final study emphasizes the importance of multivocality approach in the study of time management and other relevant learning constructs. Finally, the thesis concludes with a discussion of practical implications, the significance of the results, and future research directions

Antecedents and impacts of trust in mobile transactions: a case study of Malaysian consumers / Mohamad Noorman Masrek, Nora'ayu Ahmad Uzir and Irni Eliana Khairuddin

Just as the intensity of scientist investigating on advancing and sophisticating the mobile technologies, scholars and researchers alike have also been very active in studying the social aspect of the mobile usage. One of the most popular topics which has received much interest among IS researchers is the aspect of trust in using the mobile banking. There are two main actors in trust which are the trustor i.e. the trusting party, and the trustee which is the trusted party. In the context of mobile banking, the trustor would be the consumer of mobile banking services while the trustee would cover not only the retail banking that provides the mobile banking services but also the mobile telecommunication provider and the mobile telephone technology itself. The extant literature on the aspect of trust in mobile banking showed that most studies have been focusing on the retail banking and the mobile telecommunication provider only. The literature suggests that trust in technology is equally important in ensuring successful adoption of services rendered through the technology itself. Considering that very few studies have actually addressed the aspect of trust with all the three categories of trustee i.e. the retail banks, the mobile telecommunication provider and the mobile telephone in one single study, this study attempts to address this gap. In addition the study also seeks to investigate the impact of mobile banking utilization on satisfaction and loyalty. Adopting a survey research methodology involving 312 of mobile banking consumers in Malaysia, the findings suggest mobile banking utilization is positively correlated to satisfaction. The findings also show that mobile banking satisfaction does have bearing on loyalty. Three groups of antecedents namely the technology trust, trustworthiness and institution-based trust which are hypothesized to have significant influence on mobile banking utilization. The findings reveal that only technology trust and institution-based trust are found to have significant correlation with mobile banking utilizations. The findings of this study should be useful to both practitioners and researchers. As for the banking practitioners, the findings have empirically shown the importance of mobile banking services and its influence towards customer satisfaction. In the context of Malaysia, not all banks have implemented mobile banking. Hence this finding should alert banking practitioners that in line with the advancement of the ICT, they have no other choice but to embrace and implement mobile banking or otherwise they would risk of losing their customers. As for the researchers, besides replicating this study in countries that have implemented mobile banking, they should also consider employing a different research approach, such as qualitative approach so as to get richer and deeper understanding on the situation of mobile banking utilization among users. The framework used in the study could be used as the conceptual framework guiding such researches