A Comprehensive Analysis on the Student Behaviour in Open.uom.lk: A Large-scale Asynchronous Open Online Platform

Authors

  • Eshana Ranasinghe University of Moratuwa
  • Vishaka Nanayakkara University of Moratuwa
  • Buddhika Karunarathne University of Moratuwa
  • Malik Ranasinghe University of Moratuwa
  • Buddhini Gunarathna University of Moratuwa
  • Sumudu Jayathissa University of Moratuwa
  • Tiloka de Silva University of Moratuwa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34190/ecel.22.1.1885

Keywords:

e-learning, e-learning design, online asynchronous learning, student behaviour, Course redesign, data analysis

Abstract

The open learning platform (open.uom.lk) of the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka has attracted over 180,000 registered students in just over one year of its launch. This platform offers the Trainee Full Stack Developer (TFSD) programme, enabling the participants to enter the Information Technology (IT) industry to address the much needed human resources for the growing IT industry of the country. The programme consists of six courses related to IT covering Python Programming, Web Development and Professional Practice in Software Development. The platform operates with minimal restrictions for registrants and has students from all parts of the country with some foreign students with an equitable gender distribution. The steady growth of the registration numbers shows a high level of enthusiasm from the community to explore the potential opportunities in the IT industry. While the platform is being used actively by thousands of participants and new users are registered on a daily basis, it is also observed that some of the participants have shown slow progress at different stages. This study presents analyses performed at different stages of the programme to study the student behaviour and identify the possible causes for the participants not being able to achieve steady progress. The findings of the study indicate that the participants generally find it difficult to get through the programming exercises and assignments. Correlating learning patterns of the students help understanding the overall learning strategies which can be adopted by developers of similar asynchronous learning programmes.  Furthermore, the study goes on to suggest and discuss possible solutions to clear the bottlenecks identified at different stages of the programme. The subsequent analyses allow the prediction of completions by participants leading to a machine learning based model for predictive analytics. 

Author Biographies

Vishaka Nanayakkara, University of Moratuwa

Ms. Vishaka Nanayakkara is the Director of the Centre for Open and Distance Learning, and a Senior Lecturer at University of Moratuwa teaching in the fields of Computer, Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Her Research interests are Technology-based teaching, learning. She received her Technical Licentiate from the Department of Computer Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology and BSc. in Engineering from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Moratuwa.

Buddhika Karunarathne, University of Moratuwa

Dr. Buddhika Karunarathne is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Moratuwa. His research interests are audio and speech processing and machine learning. He received his PhD from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and his BSc. in Engineering from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Moratuwa.

Malik Ranasinghe, University of Moratuwa

Prof. Malik Ranasinghe is the Chairman Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka and a Senior Lecturer at University of Moratuwa. Prof. Ranasinghe graduated in Civil Engineering from the UoM (1984), and obtained his MSc (1986) and PhD (1990) from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada in Civil Engineering Economics as a Canadian Commonwealth Scholar.

Buddhini Gunarathna, University of Moratuwa

K.A.B.J.W Gunarathna is an instructor at the Centre for Open and Distance Learning of the University of Moratuwa. She is a former Laboratory Demonstrator in the Faculty of Science of the University of Kelaniya. She received her Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physics & Electronics from University of Kelaniya.

Sumudu Jayathissa, University of Moratuwa

Sumudu Jayathissa is an instructor at the Centre for Open and Distance Learning of the University of Moratuwa. She received her Bachelor of Science (BSc.) from Wayamba University of Sri Lanka

Tiloka de Silva, University of Moratuwa

Tiloka de Silva is a Senior Lecturer at Department of Decision Sciences of the University of Moratuwa. She received her PhD and MSc. from the London School of Economics, and her BSc. in Economics from the University of Colombo. Her research interests are Economics of education, population economics, macro-development and applied econometrics.

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Published

2023-10-19

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2023): Proceedings of the 22nd European Conference on e-Learning - ECEL 2023

Section

Academic papers