Explain an Issue

This particular article focuses on the factors that affect the academic performance of a student. The article recognized that there a lot of variable factors that affect the academic performance of student; thus, it focused on the motivation of the student and their personality traits and the impact that they have on their academic performance in online and blended learning environments.  Online studying gives the students a chance to control their learning environment by determining when and where they would like to take their classes. Blended learning, on the other hand, combines online education with face to face learning. Multiple factors could impact the learning of a student in both learning environments. Thus, the article looks at the impact of personality and academic performance in both situations to determine their role in the success of students. Although a number of studies conducted have partially looked into some of these factors in specific environments of learning, there has not been a study that has examined a combination of these factors and compared the capacity of the two settings to predict the usage of the learning management system (LMS) and core grade (2).

Relevance of Context

This article is relevant in its context mainly because it is research into learning, which is a subject matter of interest to multitudes of people ranging from educators, parents, and even the students themselves. The article investigates two types of learning, which are online learning and blended learning two of the most popular forms of learning in today’s world of internet access. Studying these two types of learning environments is relevant in the context of education since based on the findings students and educators are in a better position to decide the method of learning most suitable for them and their students. The article also discusses other determinants of student success such as their personalities and their level of motivation. This is relevant in the context of education since the findings students have a better understanding of the kerning environment best suited for them based on their personality and their motivation. This article is relevant to the context since it is a contribution to literature by investigating the individual differences present in the use of LMS, course grades in online an blended learning setups.

Identify Assumptions

Just like any other research study assumptions are something each researcher has to contend with. The article discusses the use of Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling (BSEM) for the analysis of the causal relationship between motivation, personality traits, use of LMS and course grades (5). In this case, the assumptions are missing data, which could affect the results of the research study. Other assumptions in this study are normality and the sample size, which are factored in by the BSEM in an attempt to have the most accurate results. Making use of an alternative model like the Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) would not factor in the assumptions of normality, sample size, and missing data a guarantee of inaccurate research findings.

Implications and Conclusions

This study has some implications such as the fact that students who are meticulous and have higher levels of self-efficacy are more likely to succeed in their studies. This is because online learning has minimal to no supervision, which means that self-discipline is crucial for a student to pass an online course. Thus, students that are not meticulous and self-efficient are more likely to fail an online class. Another implication of this study is that the anxiety to sit for tests and the value constructs observations is only made in the blended course setting of learning. The issue of fear is solved by providing students with the sample exams and questions from previous years and or the organization if mock up exams. If the class can support both settings of learning the instructor could offer the students a choice of whether to take the blended or the online version of the class (10). Course instructors could recommend the mixed set-up of learning to students with low efficacy and diligence rather than the online environment which might prove a struggle for them. Instructors also have the opportunity to make observations on how the students access their lecture notes as a way to predict their performance at the end of the course.

The conclusion of this article indicates that the findings of the study found that personality was a predictor of academic performance in both blended and online settings of research. There is a positive correlation between diligence and course grades which means that students with this quality are more successful in examinations.  According to (9), diligent individuals are more organized, disciplined and responsible all contributing to their excellent grades. This conclusion is in line with findings from another study conducted before the subject of this article (9). This study concludes that there is an even higher correlation between the trait of conscientiousness and the use of LMS in an online course setting. This is because an online set up has a limited engagement of the learners to learning activities which makes it ideal only for learners who are active and have self-motivation. There is no correlation between conscientiousness and the use of LMS in the blended setting of learning may be due to the regular use of online material in laboratory sessions.  The access to LMS does not indicate the level of student’s participation in a face to face class. There is a significant relationship between self-efficacy, course grades and LMS in online learning set up. Online learning does not have real lessons which requires the students to study on their own, and that requires discipline and self-efficacy which have a positive impact on course grades. Self-efficacy does not have a significant relationship with the use of LMS in the blended course setting due to regular support available for the students.

Reflection on Diversity and Global Learning

Building Self-Awareness

This article is relevant to students as it helps them become self-aware. It is everyone’s wish to succeed in whatever they do and that included in examinations. There are different learning setups available at a student’s disposal other than the regular classroom attendance during the weekday. The learning setup of this article is the blended setup and the online learning set up. These setups are more familiar with students who have other obligations such as working among other things as opposed to only attending school. This article discusses the likelihood of a student to pass their exams when enrolled under one of these learning setups based on their personality and their levels of motivation. With this information, students become self-aware by first determining their character and then deciding the best on the best learning set up for themselves. The more diligent, active and motivated students would best fit in the online setting while the less diligent and motivated students would do better in a blended learning setup. This means that in spite of academic ability and or disability the learning set up a student is exposed a contributing factor to the grades of their course work and the appropriate education set up is determined to be a student’s personality (10). Students who have self-awareness know which learning set up to choice based on their character and self-motivation when presented with the two options. This article also creates self-awareness for instructors who might have trouble understanding why their online class does better than their blended class or vice versa. An insight into motivation and personality as factors determining the best fit for a learning environment and grade scores in the course work enables them to assign students the learning environments that fit for them

Perspective

This article gives perspective to the issue of academic ability being the determining factor in course grades. It has always been an assumption that academic ability determines good course grades, but this article has managed to disprove this by showing that other factors influence grade courses among students. Studying is a very personal thing, and individually do it differently, some with minimum supervision and others under constant surveillance? The article affirms that the level of engagement between a student and a tutor is a contributing factor to course grades depending on the personality of the student (8). This is evident in the case of online studying which is best suited for disciple and diligent students and blended learning suitable for less diligent and conscientious students. The article is of the perspective that students can set themselves up either for failure or success depending on their level of self-awareness informing their decision on the best learning set up for their type of personality. The article also gives a perspective on the issue of test anxiety as a determining factor in the grade course. The study sets this right by disputing this determining that test anxiety is not at all related to the grade course of a student, but it is related to the use of online resources. With the increasing popularity of blended and online classes, this article gives students and instructors a different approach to determining the best learning setups for themselves and their students respectively.

Examine Diversity

For a study to be deemed credible, the participants of the study is required to be a representation of the actual situation. Various people find various subjects challenging and or easier than others which made it crucial to be diverse in the course selection of the students participating in the study. Thus, the courses taken by students involved in the study range from engineering to social sciences. This article has catered for diversity by including a wide range of course for the study. Variety has also been taken care of by involving both male and female students as test subjects in the study. The inclusion of both genders ensures that the findings of the study apply to students across the board and not just students of one gender. All the courses assessed in the survey were introductory courses to make sure that the students were on the same level so as not to skew the findings of the study. The examinations done in the course of this study are the same for both the online and the blended learning set up also to secure the most accurate results of the study. The research covered in the article focuses on the online and blended setups, which in the age of the internet are increasing exponentially and are available all over the world (4). Tackling emerging learning setups used across the world is another way via which the article addresses diversity. Diversity is a hot button issue at the moment, and the fact that it is discussed in the article makes it more relevant.

Reference

Alkış, N., & Temizel, T. (2018). The Impact of Motivation and Personality on Academic Performance in Online and Blended Learning Environments. Journal of Educational Technology & Society, 21(3), 35-47. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/26458505

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