Genevieve Marie Johnson’s research while affiliated with MacEwan University and other places

Four hundred five college students completed a questionnaire that assessed patterns of Internet use. Results describe college students, with rare exception, as Internet users. The vast majority of college students frequently communicate online and access websites. While an Internet game experience is typical, relatively few college students are heavy online gamers. Overwhelmingly (i.e., 77.8%), college students conceptualized the Internet as a convenience, although 17.8% considered the Internet a source of amusement. Approximately 5% of college students reported negative perceptions of the Internet (frustrating or a waste of time). Principal component analysis revealed three patterns of online behaviour; integrated-Internet-use, games-only use, and dating-only use. Implications for online instructional practice are presented. Résumé : Quatre cent cinq étudiants du niveau collégial ont répondu à un questionnaire mesurant leurs tendances de l’utilisation d’Internet. Les résultats présentent ces étudiants comme des usagers d’Internet, à quelques exceptions près. La grande majorité de ces étudiants utilisent fréquemment les outils de communication en ligne et naviguent sur Internet. Alors qu’une expérience de jeu en ligne s’avère commune, peu d’étudiants du collège s’avèrent être des joueurs en ligne excessifs. Essentiellement (c.à-d. 77,8 %), ces étudiants perçoivent Internet comme une commodité, même si 17,8 % d’entre eux le considère comme une source d’amusement. Environ 5 % ont indiqué des perceptions négatives d’Internet (frustrations ou pertes de temps). L’analyse en composantes principales a révélé 3 tendances de comportements en ligne, l’utilisation intégrée d’Internet, l’utilisation seule de jeux et l’utilisation à des fins de rencontre seulement. On présente des conséquences pour la pratique de l’enseignement en ligne.

Online practice tests and quizzes are commonly available to higher education students. The extent of student use of such study tools and the relationship of use to achievement, however, have not been fully investigated. One hundred twelve college students were encouraged to use optional online quizzes in preparation for proctored examinations. In-class examinations included multiple choice items that assessed four cognitive domains: factual, application, comprehension, and conceptual. In general, few students made extensive use of the optional online quizzes. Analysis revealed that student use of online quizzes was associated with increased academic achievement, although it was not clear if quiz use caused achievement or achievement caused quiz use. Short-answer and true-false online quiz items were differentially associated with measures of academic achievement, suggesting that cognitive processing differed across item format. Implications for further research are provided.