Effect of E-Learning on the English Achievement of Students

Kenneth P. De la Piedra

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Study

This chapter is composed of five parts: (1) Background

and Theoretical Framework of the study, (2) Statement of the

Problem and Hypotheses, (3) Significance of the Study, (4)

Definition of Terms, and (5) Delimitation of the Study.

Part One, Background and Theoretical Framework of the

Study, gives the introduction, discusses the rationale for

conducting the investigation, discusses the importance of

selecting the problem, and presents the theoretical

framework which serves as the study’s frame of reference.

Part Two, Statement of the Problem and the Hypotheses,

states the general and specific problems that the study

sought for answers. It also presents the hypotheses tested.

Part Three, Significance of the Study, describes the

individuals who will benefit from the results of the study

and the manner by which they will derive variables

information from the investigation undertaken.

Part Four, Definition of Terms, provides the conceptual

and operational definition of important terms and

operational definition of important terms and key variables

used in the study.

Part Five, Delimitation of Terms, specifies the scope

of the study in terms of the participants, research design,

sampling procedure, data gathering instruments, locale and

duration of the study, research variables and their

categories, statistical tools employed and the level of

significance.

Background and Theoretical Framework of the Study

Now a days, E-learning is considered as one of the best

technological innovation that fundamentally has a great

impact on the educational experience. With the power of the

web, the teaching and learning transaction is exposed to

unfathomable amounts of information. E-learning is an open

system that blends access to information and purposeful

communication into a dynamic and intellectually challenging

learning community.
 E-learning transforms education in ways that extend

beyond efficient delivery or entertainment value. It is not

the issues of access to information but the connection to

others that distinguishes e-learning from both conventional

face-to-face or distance education. Surfing the Internet is

not an educational experience, any more than wandering

through a library is, and it is disingenuous to acknowledge

it as anything more than informal learning. Retrieved July

29,2010 from http://www.elc.Uzh .ch/service/kursentwicklung/

mediothek/literaturtipps/tidfinal-12-5.pdf)

As a fundamental area of computer science and

education, e-learning practices, which stand for learning

processes that are Web-based, have started to dominate the

majority of the applications. Since e-learning provides

learners with educational practices available anywhere at

any time, which is not possible in traditional classroom

settings, it appears as a more noteworthy method (Cigdem,

2015).

E-learning programs have been used by educational

institutions to serve three main purposes: improving their

educational systems; meeting their students’ needs; and

preparing the new generation for challenges of tomorrow’s

world (Hernandez, Montaner, Sese, & Urquizu, 2011).

 Today, one of the most widespread innovations used in

e-learning practices is learning management systems. There

is a substantial increase in the use of the learning

management systems over the Internet to support teaching and

learning activities in higher education institutions.

(Alvarez, 2013)

The learning management systems comprise a broad

mixture of features that are possibly utilized to support

both distance learning and conventional methods (Islam,

2013). As in many other instructional technologies, the

major purpose of using the learning management systems is to

reach the intended learning outcomes of a course or training

as well as to increase students’ engagement with distance

learning, because they have the potential to offer new

learning and teaching methods that meet diverse educational

needs in diverse settings. With this intention, the Turkish

Land Forces Non-Commissioned Officer College has been

offering blended courses since the 2012–2013 academic year

and is willing to take full advantage of the learning

management systems through MOODLE in all academic programs

within the institution. Although a variety of names or

labels are attributed the learning management systems such

as platforms, portals, content management systems, and so

on, the current institution named the system Portal.

All developing nations are aware of the fact that

learning a foreign language is of vital importance in order

to adopt the latest scientific and technological innovations

in the world, and are determined to establish a system in

which while evaluating the human resources available in

their countries, those who have a good command in foreign

language have great advantage over the ones who do not. The

latest and the most advanced discoveries and inventions in

science and technology are being made in the universities

located in the United States of America where English

language is the means of scientific discourse. (Mannivanan,

2016)

Nowadays, English has become a universal language

rather than the language only of the English speaking

countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States

of America because the number of people who use English as a

means of communication exceeds the number of the people who

speak it as their mother tongue. The Philippines is not an

exemption in this aspect.

Ever since the introduction of English in the country

through the American teachers called Thomasites, Filipinos

have already adopted into their lives English as their

second language (Atencio, 2011).

According to Mariñas & Ditapat (2010), English is

already part of the educational curricula in the primary,

secondary, and even tertiary levels, which in fact, should

be an indicator that Filipinos are proficient in the

language.

Theory of Cognitive load

This study will be anchored to John Sweller’s theory of

Cognitive load which states that the amount of mental effort

involved in working memory. These amounts of mental effort

are categorized into three: germane, intrinsic, and

extraneous.

Germane cognitive load describes the effort involved in

understanding a task and accessing it or storing it in long-

term memory (for example, seeing an essay topic and

understanding what you are being asked to write about).

Intrinsic cognitive load refers to effort involved in

performing the task itself (actually writing the essay).

 Extraneous cognitive load is any effort imposed by the

way that the task is delivered (having to find the correct

essay topic on a page full of essay topics).

Mayer, Moreno, Sweller (2012) and their colleagues

established e-learning design principles that are focused on

minimizing extraneous cognitive load and introducing germane

and intrinsic loads at user-appropriate levels. These

include the following empirically established principles:

Multimedia Effect: Using any two out of the combination

of audio, visuals, and text promote deeper learning than

using just one or all three.

Modality Principle- Learning is more effective when

visuals are accompanied by audio narration versus onscreen

text. There are exceptions for when the learner is familiar

with the content, is not a native speaker of the narration

language, or when printed words are the only things

presented on screen. Another exception to this is when the

learner needs to use the material as reference and will be

going back to the presentation repeatedly.

Coherence Principle- The less that learners know about

the presentation content, the more they will be distracted

by unrelated content. Irrelevant video, music, graphics,

etc. should be cut out to reduce cognitive load that might

happen through learning unnecessary content. Learners with

some prior knowledge, however, might have increased

motivation and interest with unrelated content.

Contiguity Principle- Learning is more effective when

relevant information is presented closely together. Relevant

text should be placed close to graphics, and feedback and

responses should come closely to any answers that the

learner gives.

Segmenting Principle- More effective learning happens

when learning is segmented into smaller chunks. Breaking

down long lessons and passages into shorter ones helps

promote deeper learning.

Signaling Principle- Using arrows or circles,

highlighting, and pausing in speech are all effective

methods of signaling important aspects of the lesson. It is

also effective to end a lesson segment after releasing

important information.

Learner Control Principle- For most learners, being

able to control the rate at which they learn helps them

learn more effectively. Having just play and pause buttons

can help more than having an array of controls (back,

forward, play, pause). Advanced learners may benefit from

having the lesson play automatically with the ability to

pause when they choose.

Personalization Principle- A tone that is more informal

and conversational, conveying more of a social presence,

helps promote deeper learning. Beginning learners may

benefit from a more polite tone of voice, while learners

with prior knowledge may benefit from a more direct tone of

voice. Computer characters can help reinforce content by

narrating the lesson, pointing out important features, or

illustrating examples for the learner.

Pre-Training Principle- Introducing key content

concepts and vocabulary before the lesson can aid deeper

learning. This principle seems to apply more to low prior

knowledge learners versus high prior knowledge learners.

Redundancy Principle- Having graphics explained by both

audio narration and on-screen text creates redundancy. The

most effective method is to use either audio narration or

on-screen text to accompany visuals.

Expertise Effect- Instructional methods that are

helpful to low prior knowledge learners may not be helpful

at all, or may even be detrimental, to high prior knowledge

learners.

Cognitive Development Theory

The learning theory of cognitive development plays a

huge role in the case of the former approach—understanding

by thinking. Because of its very nature, where time and

distance often separate instructors and learners, the

cognitive process plays an even more important role in e-

Learning.

The learning theory of cognitive development is a

theory in psychology, advanced by Jean Piaget, a Swiss

developmental psychologist. At its very basic level, his

theory explains the role that the human brain plays in

helping learners understand new and complex concepts.

According to Piaget, cognitive processes such as :( 1)

Observing, (2) Classifying, (3) Categorizing, (4) Attention,

(5) Perception, (6) Interactivity and (7) Reasoning.

Cognitivism has many implications for real-world

eLearning and Instructional Design applications because of

time and distance constraints, eLearning instructors are not

able to observe how learners interact with their learning

environments. Therefore, Instructional Designers must ensure

that the content developed is tailored to each learner’s

cognitive ability.

A good example of this may be an application where e-

Learners are able to configure their dashboards or canvases

based on certain preferences. Some learners respond well to

graphical stimulus, while others become more attentive in a

text-based or audio-visual environment. Allowing learners to

"control" how lessons are presented will enable them to

absorb content more effectively.

One of the cornerstones of Cognitivism is its focus on

learning through self-discovery. What this tells eLearning

course developers is that they shouldn’t over-weight their

curriculums with content that "tells learners"; instead,

content must be presented in a way that learners are forced

to discover some aspects of the syllabus for themselves.

A great way to implement this concept in eLearning

environments is by presenting core concepts of a lesson in

the form of high-level theories and learning points. Then,

supplemental content that offers learners the opportunity to

research and explore other elements on their own must be

provided. This will allow them to form their own opinions

about those core concepts laid out by the instructor.

 Piaget believed that the cognitive process of learning

was more important than the end result—which usually is to

teach learners certain concepts or theories.

The researcher is so challenged to seek for an

effective approach in teaching English, so the researcher

will be deciding to test the effectiveness of E-learning in

teaching English if they will have better performance out of

it, and also to compare the results if teaching will be done

in the traditional way.

Thus, the independent variables in the study will be E-

Learning, Conventional learning while the dependent

variables will be English Achievement.

This schematic diagram shows the relationship of the

independent and the dependent variables.

Independent Variables Dependent Variable

E-Learning

English
Achievement

Conventional
Learning
 Figure 1.A schematic diagram showing the relationship
that exists between the between the independent and
dependent variables

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine the level of effectiveness

of e-learning, and English achievement of the Senior High

school students of University of Perpetual Help System

Pueblo de Panay Campus for the school year 2019-2020.

More specifically, this study will answer the following

questions:

1. What is the level of effectiveness of e-learning in

the pretest and posttest of the senior high school students

in the experimental and control group?

2. What is the level of English achievement in the

pretest and posttest of the senior high school students in

the experimental and control group?

3. Is there a significant difference in the

effectiveness of E-Learning in the pretest and posttest of

the senior high school students in the experimental and

control group?
 4. Is there a significant difference in the English

achievement in the pretest and posttest of the senior high

school students in the experimental and control group?

5. Are there significant relationships between E-

Learning and English Academic Performance?

In view of the aforementioned problems, the following

hypotheses were tested:

1. There is no significant difference in the level of

effectiveness of e-learning in the pretest and posttest of

the senior high school students in the experimental and

control group.

2. There is no significant difference in the level of

English achievement in the pretest and posttest of the

senior high school students in the experimental and control

group.

3. There is no significant difference in the

effectiveness of E-Learning in the pretest and posttest of

the senior high school students in the experimental and

control group.

4. There is no significant difference in the English

Academic performance in the pretest and posttest of the

senior high school students in the experimental and control

group.
 5. There are no significant relationships between E-

Learning and English Academic Performance.

Significance of the Study

The study of e-learning and English achievement can be

a learning paradigm at the primary level and high school

level to enhance the students’ knowledge and change the

conventional way of learning. The goal of this study is to

help students improve academic competence, develop meta-

cognition skills with the help of innovative e-learning

system.

The researcher also hopes that the findings will be

utilized in the school where this study is conducted to find

ways and means to improve the educational system, and also

the English ability of the students which will eventually

result to improve their academic performance.

This study is being conceptualized because of its

significant contribution to the following:

Teachers. Teachers’ are the one who will primarily

benefit from this study, because they will know how

advantageous the e-learning system. In e-learning teachers’

will no longer make their troublesome lesson plan, because

they already have the ready-made lesson plans containing

their objectives with learning activities, so all they need

to do is to deliver the lesson. Teachers will also don’t

need to make instructional materials, because Portal has

ready-made instructional materials. Teachers’ also don’t

need to make quizzes and examination because there is a

question bank which contains several questions about the

topic. Teachers’ will also have less paper works like

checking of paper, because in e-learning system the quizzes

and exam are automatically checked that would generate

students’ results, and instantaneously teachers can download

that result and simply copy and paste it to their e-grading

system

Students. The result of this study will be a big help

to the students because they will determine benefits of e-

learning for example: Students can have the lectures any

number of times, anywhere, and anytime because unlike

classroom teaching if they cannot attend the lecture, then

they have to prepare for that topic on their own, but with

e-learning as long as they have internet connection they can

access the content an unlimited number of times and they can

attend the lectures whenever they want with ease. Also, this

study can be a help to the students in terms of their

English academic performance, because they will know the

factors that affect it, so they can avoid the negative and
will follow the positive factors that could lead them to

have a better performance in the school.

Principal. The outcome of the study will provide

background on the strategy to be recommended to the

teachers. This study will motivate them to use the

appropriate strategies that would improve their educational

system that would give them an edge to other schools.

Parents. The result of the study will inform the

parents regarding the performance of their child. It is

important that they will be made aware of the findings of

this study since their cooperation and proper assistance are

greatly needed by their children.

Future Researchers. The information from this study may

give insight to the new educational system. Researchers who

are interested in e-learning will profit from the results if

they will conduct related researches to different groups of

students, location, and even races. This study will serve as

a springboard for the conduct of similar studies that will

contribute to the teachers and administrators in-depth

knowledge about e-learning system.

Environment. As eLearning is a paperless way of

learning, it protects the environment to a lot of extent. As

per a study done on eLearning courses, it has been found

that distance-based learning programs consumed around 90%

less power and generated 85% less amount of CO2 emissions as

compared to traditional campus-based educational courses.

(Pertti, 2018) With eLearning, there is no need to cut

trees for obtaining paper. Thus, eLearning is a highly eco-

friendly way of learning.

Definition of Terms

The terms of this study are conceptually and

operationally defined for clearer understanding of the

concepts.

Control Group- this refers to the group that is not

exposed to the same factor to which the experimental group

is exposed to, or it is received a different treatment or it

is left to its usual way of doing things (Ardales, 2001).

In this study, it will be referring to the class where

the lecture or the traditional method of instruction will be

used. These will be the senior high school students of The

University of Perpetual Help System Pueblo de Panay Campus.

Experimental Group- refers to the group that will be

exposed to the influence of a factor – an intervention or

treatment under consideration (Ardales, 2001).

 In this study, it will be referring to the class where

the E-Learning instructions will be used. These will be the

senior high school students of The University of Perpetual

Help System Pueblo de Panay Campus.

E-learning system- In this study e-learning system is

defined as learning system based on formalized teaching but

with the help of electronic resources is known as E-

learning. While teaching can be based in or out of the

classrooms, the use of computers and the Internet forms the

major component of E-learning. E-learning can also be termed

as a network enabled transfer of skills and knowledge, and

the delivery of education is made to a large number of

recipients at the same or different times. Earlier, it was

not accepted wholeheartedly as it was assumed that this

system lacked the human element required in learning.

(Retrieved

from,https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/eLearni

ng)

In this study, “E-learning system” referred to the

score of students in a researcher made 20 item

questionnaire. Each questions has responses to as follows:

Strongly Agree (5), Agree (4), Uncertain (3), Disagree (2),

Strongly Disagree (1) and classified as Strongly Agree

(4.21- 5.00), Agree (3.41- 4.20), Uncertain (2.61- 3.40),

Disagree (1.81-2.60), and Strongly Disagree (1.00- 1.80).

English Performance- In this study English performance

refers to the content and level of achievement students must

reach to be academically prepared for success in entry-

level, also it is defined as achieving the combination of

skills such as reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

These are normally measured by a standardized tests.

(Retrieved: July 5, 2017 https://www.quora.com/What-is-

English-performance)

In this study, “English Performance” referred to the

score of students in a 20 item questionnaire, Teaching

Competencies questionnaire developed by Moreno-Murcia et.al.

(2015).Each questions has responses to as follows: Strongly

Agree (5), Agree (4), Uncertain (3), Disagree (2), Strongly

Disagree (1) and classified as Strongly Agree (4.21- 5.00),

Agree (3.41- 4.20), Uncertain (2.61- 3.40), Disagree (1.81-

2.60), and Strongly Disagree (1.00- 1.80).

Delimitation of the Study

The quasi-experimental research design will be used in

this study to determine the levels of effectiveness of e-

learning, and English achievement of University of Perpetual

Help System Pueblo de Panay Campus for the school year 2019-

2020.

This study covered the one hundred forty three (143)

senior high school students, taken from the sample

population of one hundred six (106) students who were

officially enrolled in the senior high school program during

the first semester. The participants who participated in the

study was randomly selected.

This non-equivalent pre-test- posttest control group

design will be conducted among the Senior high school

students who were officially enrolled in Oral Communication

class, 2 groups (Rizal) as the control group and another

section (Bonifacio) as the experimental group.

The study will last for four weeks or twenty (20) class

days (October 21,2019 to November 15, 2019), covering the

topics that will be discussed in the duration of the study.

The students English Achievement will be determined by using

a validated and item analyzed adopted 15 item English

academic performance questionnaire developed by David

Lagabaster et.al 2010, taken from English achievement and

student motivation, which will be administered before and

after instruction.
 The independent variables in this study will be the

methods of learning: E-learning method for the experimental

and conventional learning method (lecture) for the control

group, while the dependent variable is the English academic

performance in the Oral Communication subject of the senior

high school students in the pretest and posttest.

The mean, and Standard deviation, as a statistical

tools that will be utilized for the analyses of the

descriptive data and t-test, and Pearson r will be used as

the inferential statistical tools to determine the

relationship and significant differences among the variables

in the study. All inferential tests will be set at 0.05

alpha level of significance.