Abstract:

Students can approach task performance in education in various ways according to the activities they perform. The present paper analyses the activities of a specific group of students in performing educational tasks in small private online courses in the LMS Moodle system. The analysis included research data from two courses implemented as part of Information and communication technology and Basics of programming in the full-time bachelor’s study of Teacher training in technical and informatics education at Palacký University Olomouc. The research sample comprised (N=38) respondents who to the maximum degree possible represent a specific group of students of the two courses. Using the basic statistics and a multidimensional analytical statistical method the researchers tested whether it was possible to identify the strategies of student activities in performing tasks in Small Private Online Course (SPOC) based on a predefined research assumption. The research assumption was defined in compliance with the theory of students’ learning activities in online courses. The results of the analysis suggested two possible strategies of student activities in informatics-based courses by their clustering. Both activity strategies are characterized by a specific approach of students to task performance. One of the groups has a responsible and diligent approach to task performance. The other group perform their tasks at the last moment and in worse quality. A comparison of activity strategies of both groups in SPOC confirmed that more responsible and diligent students achieved better results in the whole course. However, the results of the research cannot be generalized because they are characteristic of a specific group of students. Nevertheless, the findings correspond with a more general theory and are thus transferable for use by the developers and implementers of SPOC, who can take these activity strategies into consideration in the process of developing their own courses.

Keywords:

Strategy of activities, Small Private Online Course, University students, Teacher training, Informatics subjects.