Investigating Costs Associated with K12 Students’ Online Learning

• In Event: Self-Regulated Learning and Motivation in Technology-Enhanced Environments

Abstract

Existing quantitative measures of cost in situated expectancy-value theory may not capture context-specific issues. This study examined the nuances of cost and whether they fit an ordinal scale, using abductive thematic analysis and correlation patterns with other variables. 193 students (grades 8-9) completed an online AI curriculum and responded to a feedback question, which revealed emotional costs, task effort costs, and other context-specific learning barriers. Thirty-one codes ranked into five ordinal themes: no cost (0), underwhelmed (1), learning/engagement compromised (2), overwhelmed (3), and horrible (4), supported modest convergent validity through significant correlations with learning experience and recommendation. Results demonstrate situated costs and a method for converting qualitative cost data into ordinal measures.

Authors

• Franziska Bickel, North Carolina State University

• Qiuqing Li, North Carolina State University

• Nilloufar Bayati, North Carolina State University

• Zaina Dali, North Carolina State University

• Shiyan Jiang, North Carolina State University

• Rebecca Ellis, The Concord Consortium

• Jie Chao, The Concord Consortium