THE EFFECTS OF LEARNING STRATEGIES USED IN E-LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS
BY THE STUDENTS WITH DIFFERENT COGNITIVE STYLES ON THEIR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Bilal Atasoy
Dr. Halil İbrahim Yalin
Gazi University

Abstract

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of cognitive-rational and emotional-motivational learning strategies’ used in e-learning environments by students with different cognitive styles (field dependent/field independent) on their academic achievement. In this study, pre-test post-test control group design, one of the experimental designs, was used. The 54 samples were the students of Departments of Art Education and History Education in Gazi University Gazi Faculty of Education. The study was implemented in the Introduction to Computer-I course. The students were divided into two groups according to their cognitive styles, and then each group was regrouped randomly into two other e-leraning environments; one learner-controlled and the other learner-uncontrolled. The users in the learner controlled e-learning group were supplied with utilities like note-taking, text-formatting (bold, underline, text color) and ability to personalize the interface. The findings showed that there was no significant difference between the academic achievement of field dependent learners who studied in the computer assisted environment which was both learner-controlled and learner-uncontrolled [t=1,14, p>.05]. There was also no significant difference between the academic achievement of field independent learners who studied in the e-learning environment that was both learner-controlled and learner-uncontrolled [t=0,68, p>.05]. Moreover, there was no significant difference between the academic achievements of field dependent and field independent learners who studied in a learner-controlled e-learning environment.

Keywords

Cognitive style, e-learning, learning strategies, learner control.