The Effectiveness of Supplemental Online vs. Traditional Tutorials on Students’ English Proficiency and Learning Achievement

Ponlak Pantahachart

Faculty of Applied Arts

King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand

Outline

1. Background

2. Objectives

3. Hypotheses

4. Scope

5. Significance of the study

6. Literature reviews

Outline

7. Methodology

8. Supplemental online and traditional tutorials

9. Results

10.Conclusion and discussion

11. Suggestions

Background of the Study

English 1 course Students’ English proficiency Lack of electronic instructional media Lack of motivation in learning English

Research Questions

1. Do supplemental online and traditional tutorials cause differences in learners’ English language proficiency?

2. Do supplemental online and traditional tutorials cause differences in learners’ learning achievement in English 1 course?

3. What are the learners’ attitudes towards the supplemental online and traditional tutorials?

Objectives

The effects of supplemental online and traditional tutorials towards the students’ English language proficiency

The effects of supplemental online and traditional tutorials towards the students’ learning achievement in English 1 course

The students’ attitudes towards supplemental online and traditional tutorials

1. Average English proficiency test scores

2. Average learning achievement scores

Hypotheses

XXH ltraditionaonline 111:

XXH ltraditionaonline 222:

Scope of the Study

Populationcontrolled and experimental groupsEnglish 1 courseNew Inside Out (Pre-Intermediate)

Scope of the Study

Data AnalysisEnglish proficiency test (pre/post)Midterm and final examsStudent attitudes

Definitions of Terms

Supplemental online tutorialhttp://insideouttutorial.net

Supplemental traditional tutorialNew Inside Out exercises

English language proficiency Learning achievement

Significance of the Study

Learners’ option for self-access learning A way of teaching or evaluation Positive attitudes Motivation To understand the class contents

Literature Reviews

English language proficiency Learning achievement Online and traditional methods

Related Studies The effectiveness of a supplemental online

tutorial vs. tradition instruction Zubas, P., Heiss, C. & Pedersen, M. (2006)

Internet-based learning Cook, D. A. et. al. (2008)

The effects of online instruction on students’ achievement Al-Jarf, R.S.(2005)

Computer vs. workbook instruction Nagata, N. (1996)

Methodology

Subjects Research Tools Data Collection

Subjects

First-year undergraduate students Course: English 1 (academic year 1/2009) Groups: controlled and experimental

Research Tools

Pretest and posttest (proficiency test) Midterm and final exams Supplemental online tutorial Supplemental traditional tutorial Questionnaires Interview

Research Tools

Pretest and posttest (proficiency test)Sukamolson, S. (2000)

Midterm and final examsContent from New Inside Out (Pre-

Intermediate)

Supplemental Online Tutorial

Go to http://insideouttutorial.net

log in (with given username & password)

Do the exercises

Get immediate feedback

Check their scores

Supplemental Traditional Tutorial

Students received the tutorial.

They handed it in the following week.

They received the answer key.

Possible questions and answers

Research Tools

QuestionnairesAttitudes towards doing tutorials in English 1

courseAttitudes towards supplemental

online/traditional tutorialsAttitudes towards the formats and styles of

the tutorials Interview

Data Collection

Simple random sampling The students took the proficiency test (pretest). Divided them into controlled and experimental

groups Same teaching methods and lesson plans Controlled group (supplemental traditional

tutorial) Experimental group (supplemental online

tutorial)

Data Collection (continued)

Posttest Questionnaires Interview Data analysis

Test of normality Independent t-testMean and S.D.

Results

English language proficiency Learning achievement Attitudes towards supplemental

online/traditional tutorials

English Language Proficiency

Learning Achievement

Midterm exam

Learning Achievement

Final exam

Attitudes (Supplemental Online Tutorial)

1 - 14 15 - 36 37 - 50

Usefulness of tutorial Satisfaction with the supplemental

online tutorial Formats and styles

Attitudes (Supplemental Online Tutorial)

Attitudes (Supplemental Traditional Tutorial)

1 - 14 15 - 37 38 - 50

Usefulness of tutorial Satisfaction with the supplemental

traditional tutorial Formats and styles

Attitudes (Supplemental Traditional Tutorial)

Conclusion & Discussion

English language proficiency Learning achievement

English Language Proficiency

• No statistically significant difference• Content of the tutorials• Effects on students’ language proficiency

Learning Achievement

Midterm Final

• Statistically significant difference• Content familiarity (Al-Shumaimeri, Y. A. N.,2006)• Format and styles of the tutorials

Suggestions

Add one more experimental group exposed to both supplemental online and traditional tutorials

Add one more group without tutorials

Limitations

Facilities Self-access learning skills Motivation