An Analysis of Factors That Are Related to the Academic Success and Course Satisfaction of BJ LINC Students

Dr. Garry W. Conn

November 8, 2006

Early research in the area of distance learning focused mainly on interactivity and whether students learned as much as they did in traditional courses.  Later studies began looking into why students succeeded in distance learning courses. The purpose of this study is to determine factors that predict academic success and course satisfaction for students enrolled in the Bob Jones University Live Interactive Network Classroom using one-way video and two-way audio.

The population of the study included 1,682 students from 78 interactive Christian high school from around the country. Students were enrolled in at least one of the 23 math, science, and language classes taught by 10 different teachers.  Information on the 23 predictor variables was gathered using a 16-question student survey given to randomly selected classes, from site facilitators, and from BJ LINC records.

The results of this study found student age, student years enrolled, grade comparison, facilitators' presence, college plans, student course satisfaction, attendance, the number of students in grades 9-12 in the high school, BJ LINC class size, and the total number of years a school subscribed to BJ LINC to be significant predictors of BJ LINC academic success.  Grade comparison, parental support of BJ LINC, student support of BJ LINC, facilitators' presences in the BJ LINC classroom during class, call expectancy, teacher interest, and teacher desire to help were significant predictors of student course satisfaction. Also, the mean grade for students with facilitators that had a degree was significantly lower than students with facilitators that had no degree.  Course satisfaction for students whose facilitators had a degree in education was significantly lower than students whose facilitators had a non-education degree. Academic achievement for students whose facilitator had a degree in education was significantly higher than students whose facilitator had a non-education degree.