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Analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online/blended courses

Using the Sakai Learning Management System (LMS), this dissertation investigates the structure of course sites in blended and online courses at the University of Cape Town. Then, it evaluates the student interactions that this facilitates. The data selected focused on undergraduate courses in 2019....

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Main Author: Oosthuizen, Andries Cornelius
Other Authors: Scott, Leanne
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Statistical Sciences 2025
Subjects:
statistical science
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access_status_str Open Access
author Oosthuizen, Andries Cornelius
author2 Scott, Leanne
author_browse Oosthuizen, Andries Cornelius
Scott, Leanne
author_facet Scott, Leanne
Oosthuizen, Andries Cornelius
author_sort Oosthuizen, Andries Cornelius
collection Thesis
description Using the Sakai Learning Management System (LMS), this dissertation investigates the structure of course sites in blended and online courses at the University of Cape Town. Then, it evaluates the student interactions that this facilitates. The data selected focused on undergraduate courses in 2019. The student interactions with the tool selected for each site are compared to tool categories that indicate a good academic outcome. The analysis was structured to use four popular unsupervised learning algorithms (K-means, PAM, AGNES, and DIANA) on data sets that included the enrolled users and the tools accessible to students. The clValid package method was used to choose the optimal algorithm and cluster sizes. The findings show that most sites used the default tool selection, with almost half the courses adding outside tools and linking in lecture recordings. Sites with less enrolled students were shown to include more diffuse tools, which allow for more creative pedagogy. The majority of student interactions were for course development and delivery, followed by grading and assessment. Finally, most students utilised the LMS and accessed a high percentage of tools in each category. However, the analysis had certain limitations about the events tracked by the system and assumed a one-sided perspective as only the student interaction with the LMS was considered.
format Thesis
id oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41224
institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:38.662Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2025
publishDateRange 2025
publishDateSort 2025
publisher Department of Statistical Sciences
publisherStr Department of Statistical Sciences
record_format dspace
source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41224 Analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online/blended courses Oosthuizen, Andries Cornelius Scott, Leanne statistical science Using the Sakai Learning Management System (LMS), this dissertation investigates the structure of course sites in blended and online courses at the University of Cape Town. Then, it evaluates the student interactions that this facilitates. The data selected focused on undergraduate courses in 2019. The student interactions with the tool selected for each site are compared to tool categories that indicate a good academic outcome. The analysis was structured to use four popular unsupervised learning algorithms (K-means, PAM, AGNES, and DIANA) on data sets that included the enrolled users and the tools accessible to students. The clValid package method was used to choose the optimal algorithm and cluster sizes. The findings show that most sites used the default tool selection, with almost half the courses adding outside tools and linking in lecture recordings. Sites with less enrolled students were shown to include more diffuse tools, which allow for more creative pedagogy. The majority of student interactions were for course development and delivery, followed by grading and assessment. Finally, most students utilised the LMS and accessed a high percentage of tools in each category. However, the analysis had certain limitations about the events tracked by the system and assumed a one-sided perspective as only the student interaction with the LMS was considered. 2025-03-20T12:06:02Z 2025-03-20T12:06:02Z 2024 2025-03-20T12:00:33Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41224 eng application/pdf Department of Statistical Sciences Faculty of Science University of Cape Town
spellingShingle statistical science
Oosthuizen, Andries Cornelius
Analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online/blended courses
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online/blended courses
title_full Analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online/blended courses
title_fullStr Analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online/blended courses
title_full_unstemmed Analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online/blended courses
title_short Analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online/blended courses
title_sort analysis of the effect of course structure and pattern of usage on the efficacy of online blended courses
topic statistical science
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41224
work_keys_str_mv AT oosthuizenandriescornelius analysisoftheeffectofcoursestructureandpatternofusageontheefficacyofonlineblendedcourses

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