Evaluation of the effectiveness of Online Learning Program as part of the English course to second-year non-English major students at Hanoi University of Indust

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -  - BÙI THỊ THU GIANG EVALUATION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE LEARNING PROGRAM AS PART OF THE ENGLISH COURSE TO SECOND-YEAR NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (Đánh giá hiệu chương trình tiếng Anh trực tuyến phần chương trình tiếng Anh sinh viên không chuyên năm thứ hai trường Đại học Công nghiệp Hà Nội) M.A Minor Programme Thesis THESIS SUMMARY Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10 Supervisor: Khoa Anh Việt, M.A HA NOI – 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Declaration i Acknowledgements ii Abstract iii Table of contents iv List of abbreviations vi List of figures, tables and charts vii PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale Aims and objectives of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Design of the study PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 Online learning 1.1.1 Definitions of online learning 1.1.2 Reasons for online learning 1.2.3 Challenges in online learning 1.2 Evaluation of online learning program 1.2.1 The importance of evaluation 1.2.2 Types of evaluation 10 1.2.3 Evaluation of online learning program and the conceptual framework 10 1.3 Online learning at Hanoi University of Industry 14 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 15 2.1 The setting of the research 15 2.2 Overview of the syllabus with the adoption of Online Learning Program 15 2.3 Subjects 17 2.3.1 Questionnaire respondents 17 2.3.2 Interview informants 17 2.4 Data collection instruments 18 2.4.1 Questionnaire 18 2.4.2 Interview 18 2.4.3 Pre-test, post-test and students‟ online learning reports 18 2.5 Data analysis procedures 19 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 20 3.1 Data analysis 20 3.1.1 Questionnaire 20 3.1.2 Interview 29 3.1.3 Pre-test, post-test and online learning reports 31 3.2 Major findings 36 3.2.1 Students‟ and teachers‟ opinions and attitudes toward the OLP 36 3.2.2 The effectiveness of the OLP on students‟ English learning 37 3.2.3 Some suggestions to maximize the effectiveness of the OLP 37 PART C: CONCLUSION 39 Summary of the study 39 Limitations and suggestions for further study 40 REFERENCES 41 APPENDIX (Student questionnaire – English version) I APPENDIX (Student questionnaire – Vietnamese version) IV APPENDIX (Teacher interview) VII APPENDIX (Pre-test) VIII APPENDIX (Post-test) XIII LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS HaUI: Hanoi University of Industry FTTT: Faculty of Teacher Training and Tourism FME: Faculty of Mechanical Engineering OLP: Online Learning Program ID: Instructional Development WBT: Web Based Training ICT: Information Communication Technology QTDLKS1: Vietnamese abbreviation for Hotel and Tourism Administration Class CĐT2: Vietnamese abbreviation for Electromechanical Engineering Class CK1: Vietnamese abbreviation for Mechanical Engineering Class 1 LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS Figure 1: Evaluation as central to practice, from Gustafson & Branch (2002) Figure 2: Conceptual framework applied to the analysis of PBJ tutorial evaluation Table 1: Students‟ opinions on the three aspects of the OLP Chart 1: The importance of learning English Chart 2: The importance of Online Learning Program Chart 3: The benefits of the OLP to students Chart 4: The results of pre-test of CĐT2 Chart 5: The results of pre-test of CK1 Chart 6: The results of pre-test of QTDLKS1 Chart 7: The results of post-test of CĐT2 Chart 8: The results of post-test of CK1 Chart 9: The results of post-test of QTDLKS1 Chart 10: The results of pre-test and post-test of CĐT2 Chart 11: The results of pre-test and post-test of CK1 Chart 12: The results of pre-test and post-test of QTDLKS1 Chart 13: The results of pre-test and post-test 1 PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale As the era of information technology has come with significant contribution to education, especially to teaching and learning foreign languages, computers have become one of the most dominant devices in the development and delivery of audio-visual products, multimedia presentations, visual materials and end-user software Opportunities such as Internet access, distance learning capabilities, and applications software are tools of the new millennium and they are often used to make the educational environment more relevant, rich and rewarding (Ennis-Cole & Lawhon, 2004) Belz (2003) also affirms that Internet communication tools are used to promote the development of not only foreign language linguistic competence but also intercultural competence Riley (2000, as cited in Yilmaz & Orhan, 2010) emphasizes that teaching and learning that use technology effectively can lead to a greater academic achievement and make a real difference in the lives of students Richards (2006) stresses on the increasing support for learning in the future with the use of information and communication technologies – especially the online educational possibilities of the Internet resources and communications Online learning, as an incredible application of information technology, has therefore received rave reviews from a large number of educators all over the world As the result, the number of online educators with many online learning websites is increasing day by day and online learning plays an increasingly important role in teaching and learning the most popular language in the world – English At Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI), English is taught for a wide range of students of more than 10 faculties and departments This fact results in the demand of innovation in teaching and learning style of which online learning is a choice However, because this is a very new way to be applied, the challenges as well as shortcomings are unavoidable On carrying out the study, the researcher hopes that it can be a big help in deciding whether or not or in what way to teach and learn English more effectively with the adaptation of online learning Another important reason for the study is the decreasing excitement in students‟ learning When online learning program was introduced into the course, most students seemed interested and hard working with the subject They generally finished the lessons assigned on time in the very first weeks However, about some weeks later, they seemed to neglect their study both online and in class Many of students submitted the lessons late and blamed mainly for the technical mistakes Their study in class became a bit less exciting than that of the first weeks Each time students were asked about online lessons, many of them did not remember anything about the content and how they finished the lessons Basing on these problems, the researcher decided to carry out a study on the effectiveness of Online Learning Program (OLP) to students who took part in it Aims and objectives of the study The study is designed to bring a new look to the OLP as integrated to the main English courses at Hanoi University of Industry In other words, this program is part of the blended learning course in training English for non-major students The study, therefore, aims at evaluating the effectiveness of the OLP to second-year non-major students In particular, it firstly aims at investigating students‟ and teachers‟ attitudes towards the OLP Secondly, it is intended to explore how effective the OLP as part of the course is on students‟ learning through figuring out the benefits and the learning results they had during and after its implementation Providing some suggestions by students and teachers to maximize the educational outcomes of this program is the final purpose of this study In order to achieve these aims, the study seeks to answer the following research questions: (1) What are students and teachers’ opinions and attitudes towards Online Learning Program? (2) How effective is Online Learning Program to students’ English learning? (3) What are students’ and teachers’ suggestions to maximize the effectiveness of Online Learning Program? Scope of the study The study is about the evaluation of the effectiveness of the OLP as part of the English course to second-year non-English major students In other words, this program is part of the blended learning English course for students of Intake at HaUI, except for students of Faculty of Foreign Languages The evaluation of the effectiveness of this program focuses on evaluation of the users‟ reaction and learning as the result of the program This concerns the suitability of the instructional design, the friendliness to the users (students) and how supportive administrators and the teachers are to students‟ learning, basing on students and teachers‟ evaluation in survey questionnaires and structured interviews In order to decide the effects of the program on students‟ learning achievement, data from their online learning reports, pre-test and post-test are collected for analysis The suggestions for improving the effectiveness of the program by the teachers and students are also addressed in the study Methods of the study The study employed both qualitative and quantitative research method The data were collected using survey questionnaires for students, structured interviews for teachers, students‟ online learning reports accompanied with pre-test and posttest In this study, survey questionnaires were used to collect the data that show the students' opinions and attitudes towards the OLP they have just finished Structured interviews were employed to teachers to get information on their opinions and attitudes to the OLP in general as well as its effectiveness to their students Lastly, students‟ online learning reports and results from pre-test and post-test were collected to evaluate their learning progress after the introduction of the OLP Design of the study The study consists of parts: - Part A: Introduction: This part consists of rationale, aims, scope, method, and design of the study - Part B: Development: This part is the main content including chapters: + Chapter 1: is the literature review which deals with the concepts of online learning, evaluation of online learning program, and online learning at Hanoi University of Industry + Chapter 2: is about the methodology of the study + Chapter 3: is about the data analysis, discussion and major findings Part C: Conclusion: This part presents the summary of the study, limitations and the suggestions for further study ... effectiveness of the OLP as part of the English course to second-year non -English major students In other words, this program is part of the blended learning English course for students of Intake at HaUI,... look to the OLP as integrated to the main English courses at Hanoi University of Industry In other words, this program is part of the blended learning course in training English for non -major students. .. user satisfaction and interaction as well as the ease at which the interface facilitated learning The learning phase measures the actual learning as the direct result of the ecourse It is to assess