Web-Based College English Course: Instructional Effectiveness Evaluation And Online Learning Behavior Study

Web-based instruction is revolutionizing the higher education. It is anticipated that the higher education can profit a lot from the use of new technologies in computer networks and hypermedia systems. In fact, many educators and researchers have applied the Web technology to the traditional higher education in different ways and have created diverse configurations of Web-based instruction. There is certainly a need to better understand the various modes of Web-based instruction and then to identify the proper ways of implementation.This study examined a particular adjunct classroom / Web-based mode of instruction used in College English course during one semester (October 2004 -February 2005). The aim of the study was firstly to evaluate the effectiveness of the Web-based instruction in the adjunct instructional mode, and especially, in foreign language teaching. Secondly, it aimed to study students' online learning behavior in Web-based instructional environment.In response to the two purposes, this study employed both a quasi-experimental design and a descriptive research design. In the quasi-experimental design, the adjunct instruction was compared to an equivalent version of traditional classroom instruction. Singh et al.'s (2004) established research framework was adopted to investigate the difference in learner performance and learners' perceptions of the instructionaleffectiveness between the adjunct instructional group (the experimental group) and the traditional instructional group (the control group). Six natural classes (183 freshmen) in Huazhong Agricultural University took part in the study. The subjects responded to 14 Likert scale questions and reported their English scores in the entrance examination, the mid-term examination and the final examination. In the descriptive research design, 61 students who had access to the Web-based instruction were required to answer three structured questions and two open questions concerning their online learning behaviorand their Web-based learning experience. All the quantitative and qualitative data were collected through one survey, and the quantitative data were then analyzed with SPSS for Windows (v 11.0).Results of the study indicated that the adjunct classroom / Web-based instruction was effective in improving learners' academic performance and in increasing students' course interest and satisfaction. Moreover, the Web-based language instruction in this study was thought to be useful in providing valuable and clear information, in partly solving students' doubts, in enabling students' active learning, and in improving students' listening ability. As for students' online learning behavior, students were found to have the tendency to use helpful website resources instead of interesting ones more frequently. Listening Exercises were taken by most students as frequently-used and helpful resource, while the majority of students chose Movies as interesting resource. Qualitative analysis of students' comments further revealed that the public Web-based instructional labs inhibited students from freely practicing the oral tasks online, that most students considered the face-to-face classroom instruction irreplaceable, and that students should be well prepared technologically for sufficient and skillful use of the Web-based instructional system.Although there were some drawbacks of the current study, it did offer some valuable insights into some aspects of the Web-based instruction in foreign language teaching, and also generated helpful implications for future Web-based instruction and research.Now it is no longer a question of when and whether the Web-based technology will enter the educational field, but rather how it should be used and how it changes the students' learning experience. Research to continuously explore the evolving Web-based instruction will go on.