Perceptions of distance undergraduate learning students towards use H5P interactive content during the teaching and learning process of the environmental education

Resumo

Although studies have shown that E-learning is an area that has seen considerable growth among worldwide higher education institutions (HEIs), online students' dissatisfaction seems to increase at the same rate. For instance, studies have shown the lack of interactivity features of virtual learning environments (VLE) (such as Moodle), is still one of the main dissatisfactions of this students. One tool that allows to increase interactivity resources of Moodle is plugin H5P (HTML 5 Package). Considered a versatile and uncomplicated open-source tool, H5P allows educators to create more than 40 interactive Moodle-based learning objects. The aim of this study was to verify the perception of 395 DL undergraduate students (from 19 different undergraduate courses) at a private Brazilian HEI about the use of H5P Moodle interactive content during the teaching and learning process of the environmental education (EE). The hypothesis, in line with previous studies, is that the most students would report positive and/or motivating experiences after studying through interactive resources. Based on a quantitative, descriptive, and cross-sectional study, these volunteer students carried out the following contributions to this research: (i) They compared the VLE Moodle traditional didactic resources versus H5P Moodle interactive resources. Specifically, the subject studied was “concepts of Ecology”; (ii) They answered an instrument comprised two analysis dimensions (i.e., Feasibility and Motivation) consisting of 14 assertions of the Likert-type. 122 among those 395 students invited, agreed to participate (i.e., 30.9%). Most of the participating students were from the Pedagogy course (81 students), followed by the Public Management course (18 students). The study on the reliability of the instrument resulted in a coefficient equal to 0.80. Therefore, it is possible to state that on another occasion, these students would respond to the instrument in the same way. The number of validated assertions was 11/14 (a loss of the 21.40% of the assertions). However, the loss of up to 40% of the total statements is considered adequate when using the Likert scale. Considering only these 11 validated assertions, the overall main of the instrument was 3.35 points (Standard Deviation = 0.36), which demonstrates a positive student perception of the evaluated object. Ultimately, the tested hypothesis was confirmed, and thus, in line with previous studies, the most students reported positive and motivating experiences after having studied EE through H5P interactive resources.

Keywords: Moodle. Plugin H5P. Technology enhanced learning. Active Learning. Playful learning.