Comparisons of Web-based Learning Assistance Methods Using Usage Rates and Test Scores

Abstract

With the spread of the Internet, information communication technology, primarily the Internet itself, is increasingly being used in education. Under these circumstances, it is necessary to compare learning assistance methods with common indexes, and ascertain their characteristics in order to enable teachers to select Web-based learning assistance methods that correspond to their class goals. This research examined three types of Web-based learning assistance method: drill format Web quizzes (“drills”), Web course materials based on PowerPoint lecture slides (“slides”) and student submission of test questions prepared as assignments to an electronic bulletin board (“bulletin board”). The three types of learning assistance method were then compared by investigating the relationship between the rates of information usage on each learning assistance system with test scores. As a result, it was found that a common characteristic of the methods was that groups with low test scores had low rates of usage of the learning assistance methods, regardless of the learning assistance method. Further, the “drills” and “bulletin board” exhibited a correlation between the rates of usage of the learning assistance and test scores; in many classes, groups with high rates of learning assistance usage had high test scores. However, it was found that “slides” did not exhibit this sort of tendency.