Assessing Computer Use and Perceived Course Effectiveness in Post-Secondary Education in an American/Canadian Context

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between computer technology's role and students' perceptions about course effectiveness. Students from two universities (one Canadian, n = 1465; one American, n = 831) completed a 71-item questionnaire addressing different aspects of their learning experience in a given course. Factor analysis revealed a 3-factor solution: 'course-structure,' 'active-learning and time-on-task,' and 'computer-use.' Regression analysis indicated that the 3 variables are predictive of perceived course effectiveness at both sites, with the presence of an interaction between location and 'computer-use' and 'course-structure' on students' perceptions about course effectiveness. Findings reveal that student perceptions directly reflect the 14 APA learner-centered principles on which the instrument was based.