Manajemen | Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji joeb.83.3.153-158

Journal of Education for Business

ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20

Relationship Between Use of Online Support
Materials and Student Performance in an
Introductory Finance Course
Ernest N. Biktimirov & Kenneth J. Klassen
To cite this article: Ernest N. Biktimirov & Kenneth J. Klassen (2008) Relationship Between
Use of Online Support Materials and Student Performance in an Introductory Finance Course,
Journal of Education for Business, 83:3, 153-158, DOI: 10.3200/JOEB.83.3.153-158
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.83.3.153-158

Published online: 07 Aug 2010.

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Relationship฀Between฀Use฀
of฀Online฀Support฀Materials฀
and฀Student฀Performance฀in฀an฀
Introductory฀Finance฀Course฀
ERNEST฀N.฀BIKTIMIROV
KENNETH฀J.฀KLASSEN
BROCK฀UNIVERSITY
ONTARIO,฀CANADA฀

ABSTRACT.฀The฀authors฀examined฀the฀

relationship฀between฀student฀online฀activity,฀
including฀access฀to฀specific฀course฀materials,฀and฀performance฀in฀a฀traditional฀faceto-face฀introductory฀finance฀course฀that฀a฀
class฀Web฀site฀supported.฀The฀authors฀used฀
6฀measures:฀(a)฀total฀hits,฀(b)฀hit฀consistency,฀(c)฀number฀of฀unique฀files฀that฀the฀students฀accessed,฀(d)฀accesses฀to฀homework฀
solutions,฀(e)฀accesses฀to฀PowerPoint฀slides,฀
and฀(f)฀accesses฀to฀exam฀solutions.฀Results฀
indicated฀that฀access฀to฀homework฀solutions฀and,฀to฀lesser฀extent,฀hit฀consistency,฀
were฀both฀positively฀related฀to฀student฀performance.฀In฀addition,฀results฀showed฀that฀
access฀to฀specific฀files,฀rather฀than฀access฀
to฀online฀course฀materials฀in฀general,฀was฀
associated฀with฀better฀student฀performance.
Keywords:฀course฀Web฀site,฀finance,฀hits,฀
homework,฀student฀performance฀
Copyright฀©฀2008฀Heldref฀Publications

฀

T

echnology฀ has฀ become฀ an฀ integral฀part฀of฀teaching฀and฀learning฀

in฀ many฀ business฀ courses.฀ Researchers฀ expect฀ this฀ trend฀ to฀ continue฀ in฀ the฀
future,฀ partly฀ because฀ of฀ the฀ high฀ percentage฀of฀junior฀faculty฀members฀using฀
more฀ advanced฀ classroom฀ technology฀
(Cudd,฀ Tanner,฀ &฀ Lipscomb,฀ 2004).฀
Also,฀it฀is฀relatively฀straightforward฀now฀
for฀instructors฀to฀place฀course฀materials฀
online฀ because฀ of฀ the฀ ease฀ of฀ creating฀
one’s฀own฀Web฀site฀or฀of฀using฀preestablished฀ software฀ (i.e.,฀ a฀ course-management฀ system฀ such฀ as฀ WebCT฀ [Version฀
CE฀6]฀or฀Blackboard฀[Version฀CE฀6]).
The฀ underlying฀ assumption฀ behind฀
this฀ rise฀ in฀ educational฀ use฀ of฀ technology฀ is฀ that฀ it฀ benefits฀ student฀ learning.฀
However,฀ the฀ empirical฀ examination฀ of฀
this฀ assumption฀ in฀ education฀ research฀
has฀ been฀ limited.฀ Although฀ more฀ and฀
more฀ researchers฀ have฀ examined฀ the฀
effectiveness฀ of฀ completely฀ online฀
courses,฀there฀is฀a฀lack฀of฀research฀into฀
the฀ more฀ common฀ hybrid฀ courses฀ that฀
use฀online฀materials฀to฀supplement฀traditional฀face-to-face฀teaching฀(Baugher,฀
Varanelli,฀&฀Weisbord,฀2003).

In฀ this฀ study,฀ we฀ extended฀ the฀ earlier฀ research฀ in฀ three฀ areas.฀ First,฀ we฀
examined฀ the฀ value฀ of฀ online฀ support฀
materials฀in฀a฀hybrid฀course,฀rather฀than฀
a฀completely฀online฀course.฀Second,฀we฀
specifically฀ analyzed฀ hits฀ to฀ different฀
course฀ materials,฀ such฀ as฀ solutions฀ to฀
homework฀problems,฀PowerPoint฀slides,฀

and฀solutions฀to฀exams.฀Last,฀we฀used฀a฀
more฀accurate฀measure฀of฀students’฀total฀
hits฀ by฀ measuring฀ access฀ to฀ specific฀
course฀ materials฀ rather฀ than฀ hits฀ to฀ the฀
course฀home฀page.฀
Literature฀Review
Increasing฀ use฀ of฀ technology฀ in฀
finance฀instruction฀has฀inspired฀a฀growing฀body฀of฀research฀in฀this฀area,฀covering฀various฀aspects.฀Van฀Ness,฀Van฀Ness,฀
and฀ Adkins฀ (2000)฀ examined฀ student฀
performance฀in฀an฀introductory฀finance฀
course฀and฀found฀that฀students฀who฀took฀
courses฀online฀more฀likely฀not฀to฀complete฀the฀course฀than฀were฀students฀who฀

took฀courses฀in฀the฀traditional฀classroom฀
setting.฀They฀also฀found฀that฀there฀was฀
no฀difference฀in฀student฀grades฀between฀
the฀ two฀ types฀ of฀ settings.฀ In฀ contrast,฀
Anstine฀and฀Skidmore฀(2005)฀examined฀
student฀ performance฀ in฀ statistics฀ and฀
economics฀ courses฀ and฀ found฀ that฀ the฀
online฀ environment฀ produced฀ inferior฀
learning฀ outcomes฀ relative฀ to฀ the฀ traditional฀environment.
Value฀of฀Course฀Web฀Sites
Course-management฀ systems฀ (e.g.,฀
WebCT,฀Blackboard)฀have฀become฀more฀
common฀as฀means฀to฀supplement฀traditional฀course฀materials.฀Course-management฀systems฀permit฀faculty฀members฀to฀
distribute฀ course฀ materials฀ and฀ provide฀
communication฀between฀instructors฀and฀
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students.฀ In฀ a฀ 2004฀ study,฀ Cudd,฀ Tanner,฀and฀Lipscomb฀reported฀that฀40%฀of฀
finance฀ faculty฀ members฀ used฀ coursemanagement฀systems.
Wilson฀(2003)฀found฀that฀total฀hits฀to฀the฀
site฀supported฀by฀the฀course-management฀฀
system฀were฀associated฀with฀higher฀student฀ performance฀ in฀ the฀ introductory฀
finance฀ course.฀ In฀ contrast,฀ Baugher฀ et฀
al.฀ (2003)฀ did฀ not฀ find฀ a฀ significant฀
relation฀ between฀ total฀ hits฀ and฀ student฀
performance฀ in฀ the฀ introductory฀ management฀ course.฀ The฀ authors฀ offered฀ a฀
new฀ measure฀ of฀ online฀ course฀ activity:฀
hit฀ consistency.฀ They฀ suggested฀ that฀ if฀
a฀student฀consistently฀uses฀the฀Web฀site฀
throughout฀ the฀ course,฀ that฀ use฀ has฀ a฀
significant฀ positive฀ impact฀ on฀ the฀ student’s฀course฀grade.
In฀ addition,฀ researchers฀ have฀ examined฀ student฀ use฀ of฀ discussion฀ boards,฀
which฀are฀a฀common฀element฀of฀coursemanagement฀ systems.฀ These฀ boards฀
permit฀ students฀ and฀ instructors฀ to฀ post฀
messages฀to฀a฀common฀area฀for฀reading฀
and฀ responding.฀ Wilson฀ (2003)฀ examined฀the฀number฀of฀hits฀to฀a฀discussion฀

board฀and฀concluded฀that฀the฀boards฀are฀
significant฀ contributors฀ to฀ student฀ performance,฀although฀less฀significant฀than฀
total฀hits฀to฀the฀course฀Web฀site.
Although฀ course-management฀ systems฀ permit฀ instructors฀ to฀ efficiently฀
distribute฀different฀course-related฀materials฀(e.g.,฀homework฀solutions,฀PowerPoint฀slides,฀exam฀solutions),฀to฀the฀best฀
of฀ our฀ knowledge,฀ no฀ researchers฀ have฀
examined฀ the฀ relation฀ between฀ student฀
access฀ to฀ these฀ specific฀ online-course฀
materials฀ and฀ student฀ performance.฀
However,฀ as฀ we฀ review฀ later฀ in฀ this฀
article,฀ some฀ researchers฀ have฀ studied฀
the฀ value฀ of฀ these฀ materials฀ in฀ the฀ traditional฀environment฀where฀the฀Internet฀
is฀not฀used.
Value฀of฀Specific฀Course฀Materials
Education฀ researchers฀ have฀ obtained฀
mixed฀ results฀ regarding฀ homework฀
assignments,฀ PowerPoint฀ presentations,฀ and฀ after-exam฀ teaching฀ strategies.฀ For฀ example,฀ although฀ Rayburn฀
and฀ Rayburn฀ (1999)฀ found฀ a฀ positive฀
relation฀between฀homework฀completion฀
and฀ student฀ performance,฀ Peters,฀ Kethley,฀and฀Bullington฀(2002)฀showed฀that฀

requiring฀graded฀homework฀had฀a฀nega154฀

Journal฀of฀Education฀for฀Business

tive฀effect฀on฀students’฀performance฀on฀
exams.฀Lefcort฀and฀Eiger฀(2003)฀found฀
no฀ difference฀ in฀ performance฀ between฀
students฀ given฀ preparatory฀ (before฀
class)฀ homework฀ versus฀ practice฀ (after฀
class)฀ homework.฀ However,฀ student฀
performance฀ increased฀ when฀ students฀
who฀ were฀ assigned฀ homework฀ were฀
compared฀ with฀ students฀ who฀ were฀ not฀
assigned฀any฀homework.฀In฀the฀present฀
study,฀ we฀ contributed฀ to฀ this฀ literature฀
by฀ examining฀ the฀ relation฀ between฀ (a)฀
availability฀ of฀ solutions฀ to฀ homework฀
problems฀ to฀ students฀ and฀ (b)฀ student฀
performance.
A฀growing฀body฀of฀research฀regarding฀

the฀ effect฀ of฀ PowerPoint฀ presentations฀
on฀student฀learning฀has฀produced฀mixed฀
results.฀ For฀ example,฀ although฀ Bartsch฀
and฀ Cobern฀ (2003)฀ and฀ Lowry฀ (1999)฀
concluded฀ that฀ PowerPoint฀ presentations฀ can฀ improve฀ student฀ performance฀
compared฀ with฀ overhead฀ transparencies,฀Szabo฀and฀Hastings฀(2000)฀did฀not฀
find฀ that฀ using฀ PowerPoint฀ presentations฀helps฀student฀learning.฀In฀addition,฀
Rankin฀and฀Hoaas฀(2001)฀found฀that฀the฀
use฀ of฀ PowerPoint฀ presentations฀ does฀
not฀affect฀student฀performance,฀student฀
attitudes฀ toward฀ the฀ course,฀ or฀ student฀
evaluations฀of฀the฀instructor.
Despite฀ these฀ mixed฀ results,฀ PowerPoint฀ slides฀ now฀ accompany฀ almost฀ all฀
finance฀ textbooks.฀ With฀ spreadsheets,฀
they฀ are฀ the฀ most฀ widely฀ used฀ teaching฀ tools฀ of฀ finance฀ faculty฀ members฀
(Cudd฀et฀al.,฀2004).฀The฀question฀arises฀
whether฀instructors฀should฀make฀PowerPoint฀ slides฀ available฀ to฀ students฀ before฀
lectures.฀As฀DenBeste฀(2003)฀suggested,฀
if฀students฀have฀PowerPoint฀slides฀available฀before฀class,฀they฀might฀decide฀not฀
to฀ attend฀ lectures.฀ In฀ the฀ present฀ study,฀

we฀contributed฀to฀this฀literature฀by฀examining฀ the฀ relation฀ between฀ PowerPoint฀
slide฀availability฀and฀student฀performance฀
in฀the฀introductory฀finance฀course.
Last,฀despite฀the฀in-class฀test’s฀being฀
the฀ primarily฀ assessment฀ tool฀ in฀ the฀
introductory฀finance฀course฀(Farooqi฀&฀
Saunders,฀2004),฀limited฀research฀exists฀
on฀postexam฀pedagogical฀strategies.฀An฀
exception฀ is฀ Chan฀ and฀ Shum’s฀ (2004)฀
study฀of฀the฀cumulative฀or฀rework฀testing฀ strategy,฀ which฀ allows฀ students฀ to฀
earn฀ partial฀ credit฀ for฀ correcting฀ their฀
mistakes฀in฀initial฀tests.฀Chan฀and฀Shum฀
suggested฀ that฀ the฀ effect฀ of฀ this฀ test-

ing฀ strategy฀ may฀ be฀ across฀ disciplines฀
or฀ across฀ different฀ academic฀ standings฀
and฀that฀students฀may฀not฀study฀as฀hard฀
as฀ they฀ should฀ because฀ they฀ know฀ that฀
they฀ can฀ rework฀ the฀ mistakes.฀ In฀ the฀
present฀ study,฀ we฀ considered฀ the฀ value฀

of฀ making฀ solutions฀ to฀ exam฀ problems฀
available฀to฀students.
METHOD
Participants฀ were฀ 85฀ undergraduate฀
students฀in฀two฀sections฀of฀an฀introductory฀ finance฀ course฀ that฀ was฀ offered฀ in฀
the฀ fall฀ 2003฀ semester฀ at฀ a฀ mediumsized฀Canadian฀university฀that฀the฀Association฀ to฀ Advance฀ Collegiate฀ Schools฀
of฀Business฀International฀(AACSB)฀had฀
accredited.฀ Of฀ all,฀ 5฀ of฀ these฀ students฀
did฀not฀take฀any฀courses฀at฀that฀university฀ prior฀ to฀ fall฀ 2003฀ and฀ thus฀ did฀ not฀
have฀a฀grade฀point฀average฀(GPA)฀at฀the฀
university.฀Because฀GPA฀was฀important฀
to฀ the฀ model,฀ these฀ 5฀ students฀ were฀
removed฀ from฀ the฀ analysis,฀ yielding฀ a฀
final฀ sample฀ of฀ 80฀ students.฀ The฀ same฀
instructor฀ taught฀ both฀ sections,฀ using฀
the฀same฀content฀and฀pedagogical฀methods.
Introductory฀finance฀is฀a฀requirement฀
for฀ undergraduate฀ business฀ students.฀ It฀
is฀ usually฀ scheduled฀ to฀ be฀ taken฀ in฀ the฀
students’฀ sophomore฀ year.฀ These฀ two฀
sections฀included฀1฀freshman,฀66฀sophomores,฀9฀juniors,฀and฀4฀seniors.
The฀ instructor฀ used฀ the฀ WebCT฀
course-management฀ system฀ to฀ support฀
traditional฀classroom฀instruction฀and฀to฀
collect฀data฀about฀student฀online-course฀
activity.฀For฀files฀placed฀in฀content฀modules,฀WebCT฀recorded฀the฀date฀and฀time฀
when฀ every฀ student฀ accessed฀ each฀ file.฀
Therefore,฀for฀this฀course,฀all฀files฀were฀
set฀up฀on฀the฀site฀in฀content฀modules.฀
Students฀ from฀ both฀ sections฀ of฀ the฀
course฀ accessed฀ the฀ same฀ WebCT฀ site.฀
It฀ contained฀ the฀ course฀ syllabus,฀ PowerPoint฀ slides฀ of฀ class฀ lectures,฀ solutions฀ for฀ homework฀ problems,฀ and฀
other฀ supporting฀ files฀ (e.g.,฀ solutions฀
for฀current฀exams,฀solutions฀for฀sample฀
exams,฀ financial฀ calculators’฀ settings,฀
math฀ review).฀ None฀ of฀ the฀ above฀ were฀
handed฀ out฀ in฀ class฀ except฀ the฀ syllabus.฀The฀PowerPoint฀slides฀were฀in฀outline฀ format:฀ Students฀ could฀ print฀ and฀
use฀ them฀ to฀ take฀ notes฀ during฀ lectures.฀
The฀ instructor’s฀ observation฀ during฀ the฀

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term฀ indicated฀ that฀ most฀ students฀ did฀
print฀them,฀although฀some฀students฀still฀
attempted฀ to฀ take฀ all฀ notes฀ in฀ class.฀
Solutions฀ for฀ homework฀ problems฀ and฀
some฀other฀files฀(e.g.,฀financial฀calculators’฀settings,฀math฀review)฀were฀posted฀
to฀the฀site฀at฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀term,฀
whereas฀ some฀ other฀ files฀ were฀ posted฀
later.฀Specifically,฀the฀PowerPoint฀slides฀
were฀ posted฀ several฀ days฀ before฀ the฀
material฀ was฀ discussed฀ in฀ class,฀ and฀
solutions฀ to฀ the฀ sample฀ and฀ current฀
exams฀were฀posted฀several฀days฀before฀
and฀ after฀ the฀ exam฀ day,฀ respectively.฀
All฀ files฀ on฀ the฀ site฀ were฀ optional฀ for฀
the฀ students,฀ so฀ that฀ the฀ students฀ could฀
attend฀ class฀ and฀ complete฀ all฀ required฀
assignments฀ and฀ exams฀ without฀ using฀
the฀files฀offered.฀
Although฀ our฀ using฀ a฀ single฀ instructor฀ for฀ both฀ sections฀ avoided฀ potential฀
confounding฀effects฀of฀different฀instructors฀ or฀ different฀ teaching฀ methods,฀ this฀
use฀may฀have฀limited฀the฀generalizability฀ of฀ the฀ study.฀ However,฀ introductory฀
finance฀ is฀ a฀ required฀ course฀ in฀ many฀
business฀programs,฀and฀it฀is฀taught฀with฀
a฀ common฀ textbook,฀ suggesting฀ that฀
there฀may฀be฀broader฀applicability.฀
Variables
Course฀grade฀is฀a฀dependent฀variable฀
and฀was฀composed฀of฀two฀quizzes฀(10%฀
each),฀ a฀ midterm฀ exam฀ (30%),฀ and฀ a฀
final฀exam฀(50%).฀All฀regression฀analyses฀ in฀ this฀ study฀ used฀ the฀ course฀ grade฀
as฀the฀dependent฀variable.
Content฀ hits฀ is฀ the฀ total฀ number฀ of฀
times฀ the฀ student฀ accessed฀ any฀ file฀ in฀
the฀content฀modules฀on฀the฀WebCT฀site.฀
This฀variable฀is฀similar฀to฀the฀variable฀of฀
total฀hits฀in฀prior฀studies฀(e.g.,฀Baugher฀
et฀al.,฀2003;฀Wilson,฀2003),฀except฀that฀
content฀ hits฀ does฀ not฀ include฀ hits฀ to฀
the฀ home฀ page฀ of฀ the฀ site.฀ Students฀
must฀ use฀ the฀ home฀ page฀ to฀ access฀ the฀
content฀ pages,฀ but฀ there฀ is฀ no฀ file฀ on฀
the฀ home฀ page฀ that฀ can฀ be฀ accessed฀ or฀
downloaded.
Hit฀consistency฀measures฀how฀consistently฀ students฀used฀ the฀Web฀site.฀ During฀the฀13-week฀semester,฀we฀identified฀
13฀periods฀for฀analysis.฀The฀first฀period฀
started฀ at฀ the฀ first฀ lecture฀ and฀ ended฀ 1฀
week฀ later฀ at฀ the฀ second฀ lecture฀ (both฀
sections฀ had฀ lectures฀ once฀ a฀ week฀ for฀
3฀ hr),฀ the฀ second฀ period฀ started฀ at฀ the฀
฀

second฀lecture฀and฀lasted฀1฀week,฀and฀so฀
forth฀until฀the฀13th฀week.฀This฀method฀
resulted฀in฀12฀periods.฀The฀13th฀period,฀
the฀ time฀ between฀ the฀ last฀ lecture฀ and฀
the฀ final฀ exam,฀ was฀ 2฀ weeks฀ long.฀ As฀
in฀ Baugher฀ et฀ al.฀ (2003),฀ this฀ variable฀
was฀ calculated฀ by฀ assigning฀ a฀ 0฀ if฀ the฀
student฀did฀not฀access฀the฀site฀during฀a฀
period฀and฀a฀1฀if฀the฀student฀did฀access฀
it.฀The฀sum฀of฀these฀values฀resulted฀in฀a฀
variable฀that฀ranged฀from฀0฀to฀13.
Unique฀ files฀ accessed฀ is฀ the฀ number฀
of฀different฀files฀accessed฀by฀a฀student.฀
A฀student฀could฀have฀a฀high฀number฀of฀
content฀hits฀but฀access฀few฀files฀through฀
the฀term,฀whereas฀another฀student฀could฀
access฀ every฀ file฀ once฀ and฀ download฀ it฀
immediately,฀ having฀ a฀ low฀ number฀ of฀
content฀hits.฀There฀were฀37฀unique฀files฀
on฀the฀course฀Web฀site.
Homework฀ solutions฀ measures฀ the฀
number฀of฀the฀end-of-chapter฀textbook-฀
problem฀ solutions฀ that฀ the฀ student฀
accessed฀ on฀ the฀ course฀ WebCT฀ site.฀
There฀were฀12฀solution฀sets฀(1฀for฀each฀
chapter)฀ to฀ textbook฀ problems฀ on฀ the฀
Web฀site.฀These฀files฀were฀optional.฀
PowerPoint฀slides฀measures฀the฀number฀of฀PowerPoint฀presentation฀files฀that฀
the฀ student฀ accessed.฀ There฀ were฀ 12฀
files฀(1฀for฀each฀chapter)฀on฀the฀course฀
WebCT฀site.
Exam฀solutions฀measures฀the฀number฀
of฀the฀student’s฀accesses฀to฀solutions฀for฀
the฀two฀quizzes฀and฀the฀midterm฀exam.฀
Three฀ files฀ were฀ posted฀ shortly฀ after฀
each฀test฀date.
GPA฀is฀the฀student’s฀GPA฀for฀all฀university฀ courses฀ taken฀ prior฀ to฀ the฀ fall฀
2003฀ term.฀ Finance฀ instructors฀ consistently฀find฀that฀GPA฀is฀a฀positive฀and฀significant฀ variable฀ in฀ predicting฀ students’฀
performance฀ in฀ finance฀ courses฀ (e.g.,฀
Didia฀ &฀ Hasnat,฀ 1998;฀ Wilson,฀ 2003),฀

and฀therefore฀we฀used฀it฀as฀a฀control฀variable฀in฀all฀regressions.฀At฀this฀university,฀
GPA฀was฀measured฀as฀a฀percentage.฀
RESULTS
Table฀ 1฀ presents฀ descriptive฀ statistics฀ for฀ all฀ variables฀ in฀ our฀ analysis.฀
The฀mean฀course฀grade฀is฀62.28%฀(or฀a฀
low฀C),฀which฀is฀considerably฀less฀than฀
the฀ mean฀ GPA฀ of฀ 73.68%.฀ This฀ difference฀ is฀ not฀ surprising฀ because฀ students฀
overwhelmingly฀regard฀the฀introductory฀
finance฀ course฀ as฀ difficult,฀ both฀ before฀
and฀after฀they฀take฀it฀(Krishnan,฀Bathala,฀
Bhattacharya,฀&฀Ritchey,฀1999).
Students฀ had฀ on฀ average฀ of฀ 45.95฀
content฀ hits฀ during฀ the฀ semester.฀ The฀
mean฀ (M฀ =฀ 7.74)฀ and฀ standard฀ deviation฀(SD฀=฀2.84)฀of฀hit฀consistency฀were฀
relatively฀close฀to฀the฀same฀statistics฀(M฀
=฀ 9.05,฀ SD฀ =฀ 2.65)฀ of฀ hit฀ consistency฀
reported฀ for฀ the฀ introductory฀ management฀class฀by฀Baugher฀et฀al.฀(2003).฀The฀
mean฀for฀unique฀files฀accessed฀indicated฀
that฀students฀accessed฀on฀average฀23฀of฀
37฀available฀files.฀The฀use฀of฀Web-based฀
course฀ materials฀ varied฀ considerably฀
among฀ students,฀ as฀ evidenced฀ by฀ the฀
range฀(0–13)฀of฀hit฀consistency฀and฀the฀
range฀(0–34)฀of฀unique฀files฀accessed.฀
Students฀ accessed฀ fewer฀ homework฀
solutions฀ than฀ PowerPoint฀ slides,฀ with฀
both฀mean฀and฀median฀being฀lower฀for฀
homework฀solutions.฀At฀the฀same฀time,฀
access฀to฀both฀homework฀solutions฀and฀
PowerPoint฀slides฀ranged฀from฀0฀to฀12,฀
again฀demonstrating฀a฀wide฀range฀of฀use฀
of฀the฀materials฀by฀various฀students.
The฀ relatively฀ low฀ mean฀ number฀ of฀
accesses฀to฀exam฀solutions฀(1.53)฀can฀be฀
explained฀by฀the฀fact฀that฀the฀solutions฀
to฀ each฀ exam฀ were฀ discussed฀ in฀ class.฀
Therefore,฀students฀who฀performed฀well฀

TABLE฀1.฀Descriptive฀Statistics฀of฀Study฀Variables
Variable฀
Course฀grade฀
Content฀hits฀
Hit฀consistency฀
Unique฀files฀access฀
Homework฀solutions฀access฀
PowerPoint฀slides฀access฀
Exam฀solutions฀access฀
Grade฀point฀average฀

M฀

Mdn฀

62.28฀
45.95฀
฀7.74฀
23.00฀
฀7.59฀
฀8.79฀
฀1.53฀
73.68฀

63.36฀
42.50฀
฀8.00฀
25.00฀
฀9.00฀
10.00฀
฀2.00฀
74.15฀

Minimum฀ Maximum฀
12.46฀
฀0.00฀
฀0.00฀
฀0.00฀
฀0.00฀
฀0.00฀
฀0.00฀
50.63฀

฀98.80฀
156.00฀
13.00฀
34.00฀
12.00฀
12.00฀
฀฀3.00฀
95.00฀

SD
15.96
26.83
2.84
7.84
4.30
3.67
0.93
7.18

January/February฀2008฀

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on฀ the฀ exam฀ or฀ understood฀ the฀ solution฀in฀the฀class฀did฀not฀need฀to฀access฀
the฀ detailed฀ solutions฀ from฀ the฀ course฀
WebCT฀site.฀
Table฀ 2฀ presents฀ the฀ correlations฀
between฀variables.฀GPA฀has฀the฀highest฀
correlation฀ with฀ course฀ grade฀ (.654),฀฀
which฀was฀significant฀at฀p฀