Logging On to Improve Achievement: Evaluating the Relationship between Use of the Learning Management System, Student Characteristics, and Academic Achievement in a Hybrid Large Enrollment Undergraduate Course

Academic technologies, such as the Learning Management System (LMS), have been proposed as a means to implement instructional reforms to improve student persistence. This study conducts a quantitative analysis of a large enrollment (n = 377) hybrid undergraduate course in which LMS activities replaced one of the weekly meeting sessions. Separate student LMS use variables were found to explain over four times the variation in final grade compared to student characteristic variables. Combined LMS use resulted in a model that explained 25% of the variation in final grade, which was increased to 35% with the addition of student characteristic variables. For at-risk students, LMS use had a 25% smaller effect on final grade. These results suggest that the LMS is a potentially valuable resource to carry out instructional reforms. Further, data from the LMS can be used as a meaningful indicator of student educational effort.