Student’s Access Pattems of a Moodle-based Course Management System: A Case Study of a Large Entry Level Programming Class

With the wide adoption of Course Management Systems (CMSs) and their availability on different types of devices, students can access their course content anytime, anywhere and stay up to date with their modules on a frequent basis. The continued growth in the volume of data allows us to apply learning analytics strategies to understand patterns of access and students’ online behavior. Our aim is to analyze the use of online materials in a Moodle-based CMS by students to identify their usage patterns. To do this, we systematically collected and analyzed students’ access of the course materials related to two coursework assessments in a large programming course for entry level students across two years. Our results indicate that students’ access of the course materials significantly impact on their assignment scores. There are also differences in students’ access based on their gender and STEM/Non-STEM backgrounds. Based on our results, we derive suggestions for how to improve the learning experience of students in CMSs.