Connected in Isolation: A Correlational Study of Students' Sense of Connectedness in an Online Course and Their Learning Outcomes

Author(s)

Ben MorrellFollow

Date

11-2016

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Chair

Alan D Wimberley

Keywords

Online Learning, Virtual School, Vygotsky, Zone of Proximal Development

Disciplines

Education | Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research | Educational Methods | Online and Distance Education

Recommended Citation

Morrell, Ben, "Connected in Isolation: A Correlational Study of Students' Sense of Connectedness in an Online Course and Their Learning Outcomes" (2016). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 1304.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/1304

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative, bivariate correlational study is to understand the relationship between online high school students’ sense of connectedness in the course, as measured by the Online Student Connectedness Survey (OSCS) and the students’ standardized End of Course (EOC) Milestone scores. A review of literature revealed a lack of research on high school students and their perception of connection in their online course as it relates to their academic success. The independent variable for the study is the students’ sense of connectedness score as derived from the Online Student Connectedness Score (OSCS). The dependent variable for the study is the students’ standardized achievement scores as measured by Georgia Department of EOC Milestone Assessment Score. This research study was conducted using a non-experimental bivariate correlational research design. The data analysis chosen to evaluate this research study is the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient, also known as Pearson’s correlation or Pearson’s r. Pearson’s r was calculated to help analyze data for the Research Question. A Bivariate Scatterplot was created to visually analyze the data from the study. The Pearson’s product-moment correlation (Pearson’s r) revealed no statistical significance was found in the correlated values of EOC and OSCS scores. Thus, a statistically significant correlation was not found between the high school students’ sense of connectedness in their online course and the EOC Milestone Assessment test scores taken at the completion of the course. Future research on this topic is recommended and should include a larger sample population to help generalize the study for future research.