Abstract
The sudden outbreak of COVID-19, which has presented great challenges to pedagogy, has catalyzed the transition of teaching and learning to the online mode. Uncovering the key factors that facilitate positive learning outcomes in online learning environments has thus gathered importance. To bring these factors to light, this study aims to understand and model the effect of perceived online connectedness on the relationship between student motivation and university learning outcomes. Based on 470 questionnaire responses collected by students from nine universities in Hong Kong and Macao, findings from structural equation modelling, showed students’ online connectedness partially mediated the relationship between online learning motivation and university learning outcomes. These results suggest that the learner’s motivation derives not only from the perceived relevance of the learning subject, but also from the learner’s attributes such as confidence, satisfaction, and attention during online learning. Moreover, students’ perceived connectedness, which considers the comfort, community, facilitation, interaction, and collaboration of students in an online context, plays a key role in students’ positive learning outcomes. Pedagogical implications for teachers, educators and students and university policy implications are discussed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 537-555 |
Number of pages | 19 |
Journal | Technology, Knowledge and Learning |
Volume | 29 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 10 Jul 2023 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Mar 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
Funding
This study is supported by the Faculty Knowledge Transfer Fund (Reference Number: 04560) from the Education University of Hong Kong awarded to the second author.
Keywords
- Online connectedness
- Learning motivation
- University learning outcomes
- Structural equation modelling