An Analysis of the Relationship between the Contents and Levels of Questions and Academic Achievements of Adult Learners in CyberUniversities

The purpose of this study is to identify the characteristics of the questions of adult learners in cyber universities, and to find out the relationship between academic achievement levels according to the characteristics of the questions. To this end, we analyzed 1,306 adult learners who had taken the same courses at a cyber-university during the three semesters from 2017 to 2018, and analyzed the number of questions posted on the Q & A bulletin board, and the contents and levels of them. The characteristics of the questions were analyzed according to gender and grade, and compared with the midterm and final exam scores and the whole semester grades. As a result of the analysis, first, the participation to the Q & A bulletin board, the number of questions, the content and level of the them showed that 26% of the students posted more than one question on the Q & A bulletin board during the semesters. The most frequently asked questions were class-related questions (49.6%) among the categories of questions contents, and reconstruction (47.4%) at the question level (recall-reconstruction-apply-extension). Second, as a result of analyzing the differences according to gender and grades (grades 1&2 vs. 3&4), female students participated in questions more than males, and posted higher percentages of class-related contents, and higher levels of questions. In the case of lower grades versus higher grades, the higher grade students participated in the question more, posted more questions related to the class. There, however, was no significant difference in the level of questions. Lastly, the relationship between the contents and levels of questions and students’ academic achievement was analyzed. A positive relationship was found between the participation and the number of questions and the academic achievement. The content and level of the question also showed a statistically significant relationship with academic achievement. These results may be helpful to understand the learning process of cyber university students and to provide information for more effective class design.