An overview of the study is presented in this section. The process of answering the research question is explained (section 7.3.1) and is a reflection of the key findings of the research (section 7.3.2).
Research Process
7.3.1
The aim of the research was to answer the following research questions:
How can the UX of academic lecturing staff in their endeavour to facilitate courses online with the use of an LMS in an ODL institution, be represented?
The sub research questions that directed and guided the study towards answering the main research question are the following:
Sub research question 1: What are the components of the UX when using an LMS?
Sub research question 2: What are the factors that will influence the UX when using the LMS in an ODL institution?
The research applied a single case study as a strategy and used both the qualitative and quantitative research designs for data collection by adapting the convergent parallel mixed method research design to answer the main research question.
The responses from the open-ended question in the questionnaire provided (qualitative) explanations for some of the quantitative findings and provided interesting insight in the feelings, thoughts and experiences of the participants. It contributed positively towards richer findings.
The research process consisted of five phases. The execution of this process is summarised in Table 7.1.
Table 7.1: Summary of the research process
Phase Description
Phase 1 (Chapter 2)
Process: Literature study
Aim: The literature study’s aim was to answer the first sub research question and examine existing relevant literature to identify the factors of UX to commence with answering of the second sub research question.
Activity:
The study explored the literature to determine the components of UX and to identify the factors that influence the UX when using an LMS.
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Phase Description
Output:
The components of the UX that would serve as the units of analysis for the single case study towards answering of sub research question 1. The identified components were the user, the
system and the context of use.
Identified factors that could influence the UX when using an LMS towards the compilation of the draft conceptual framework.
Phase 2 (Chapter 3)
Process: Conceptual framework
Aim: To compose a conceptual framework that represents the components and factors that could influence the UX of academic lecturing staff using the LMS in an ODL institution. Activity:
A draft conceptual framework was constructed from the identified units of analysis in Phase 1. Current factors that influence the UX of academic lecturing staff using the LMS in an ODL institution as identified from literature were included as propositions. The draft conceptual framework was then reviewed and validated by five experts in the fields of education, HCI and ODL. This was done in order to ensure the comprehensiveness of the content, the correct use of language in the statements and to confirm the applicability and relevancy from the academic viewpoint in the ODL environment. The feedback was incorporated to do the necessary
amendments to the draft conceptual framework. Output:
Presentation of a conceptual framework. The validated conceptual framework based on theories, propositions and structures from literature was presented in order to guide data collection and analysis.
Phase 3 (Chapter 4)
Process: Research design and data collection
Aim: To present the research strategy to effectively address the research problem. To explain the administration of the data collection process.
Activity:
This research study adopted an interpretivistic research philosophy. The research was
conducted in five phases and applied a single case study design (Yin, 2003). The data collection instrument accommodated both the quantitative and qualitative data collection methods in adapting the convergent parallel mixed method as outlined by Creswell and Clark (2011). To explore how the UX presents itself within the case, a questionnaire was derived from the propositions in the reviewed conceptual framework. In order to ensure that the questionnaire captured the necessary data, the quantitative section of the questionnaire was evaluated by a statistician and pre-tested on a small sample group of participants. Insights gained were incorporated in the final version of the questionnaire.
Output:
The questionnaire was distributed to 1 640 academic staff members in the eight academic colleges at Unisa which use the LMS (myUnisa) to facilitate courses online.
Phase 4 (Chapter 5)
Process: Data analysis
Aim: To apply statistical techniques to describe and evaluate data in order to find the answers to the research questions.
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Phase Description
Activity:
The data were analysed independently in accordance to Creswell and Clark's (2011) outline for a convergent parallel mixed method. There were 158 respondents. The software packages SAS ®, IBM SPSS® and MS Excel ® were used for analysis and visualisation of the quantitative data. The feedback from the open ended question in the questionnaire, with 72 respondents, was combined into one document, which was then used as primary document in Atlas.ti ® for coding purposes. In this study mixed method research refers to the combined use of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods in the same research. The motivation of mixed method methodology is strengthened by the principle of triangulation, which implies that more than one measurement procedure is used when investigating a research problem in order to enhance confidence in the findings.
Output:
The quantitative data collected provided evidence that eight of the nine identified factors do have an influence on UX when using an LMS to facilitate online learning. However, the responses to the factor `Context - Institutional administrative and structural procedures` showed that slightly more participants (35.9% in contrast to 31.5%) indicated that the institutional administrative and structural procedures do not have an influence on the UX. The qualitative analysis explored the phenomenon of UX and the factors that influence the UX when using LMS in an ODL institution. The qualitative data provided more insight in the perspectives of the participants regarding the UX and clarified some of the reasons why some factors influence the UX of the academic lecturers when they use the LMS. According to the qualitative data, all of the nine identified factors do have an influence on UX when using an LMS to facilitate online learning.
Phase 5 (Chapter 6)
Process: Revised conceptual framework
Aim: To present the revised conceptual framework towards answering the main research question - How can the UX of academic lecturing staff in their endeavour to facilitate courses online with the use of an LMS in an ODL institution, be represented?
Activity:
The conceptual framework which resulted from phase 2 was revised and amended to present an updated contextualised framework. The collected and analysed data were integrated into the conceptual framework.
Output:
The study is concluded with the conceptual framework that represents the UX of academic lecturing staff in the use of an LMS tool in an ODL institution, to answer the research question: How can the UX of academic lecturing staff in their endeavour to facilitate courses online with the use of an LMS in an ODL institution be represented?