Online Public Health Education for Low and Middle-Income Countries: Factors Influencing Successful Student Outcomes

Authors

  • Keir Elmslie James Philip Author
  • Andrew Lee Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v6i4.1797

Keywords:

Open and Distance Learning, Outcome indicators, Peoples-uni, Public Health education

Abstract


Background: Affordable, online public health education could assist health and development in low and middle-income countries. The Peoples-uni (www.Peoples-uni.org ) aims to provide this through a fully accredited, low cost, online Masters in Public Health. Although literature exists relating to online learners in general, we lack research regarding the characteristics of successful learners in this new student group. This study assessed which readily available information on learners could predict success in course modules. Methods: A descriptive survey method was used to assess correlations between pass rates with studentsâ?? personal characteristics (gender, nationality etc) and indicators of course engagement (discussion contributions, online profile etc). We sampled all students starting modules between September 2009 and March 2010 (n=218). Results: All indicators of engagement correlated strongly with pass rates, particularly online presence (photo/personal information on profile). Paying for modules correlated with higher pass rates than not. Interestingly, waiving fees correlated with lower pass rates than those who had not paid. Personal characteristics were not related to pass rates. Conclusion: Engagement is important for success, and indicators of which can predict pass rates, the personal characteristics investigated were not related to success. Further research is required to understand the nature of associations this study highlights.

Author Biographies

Keir Elmslie James Philip, Author

School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), The University of Sheffield, Regent Court, Sheffield S1 4DA

Andrew Lee, Author

School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR), The University of Sheffield, Regent Court, Sheffield S1 4DA

Downloads

Published

2011-11-25

How to Cite

Philip, K. E. J., & Lee, A. (2011). Online Public Health Education for Low and Middle-Income Countries: Factors Influencing Successful Student Outcomes. International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning (iJET), 6(4), pp. 65–69. https://doi.org/10.3991/ijet.v6i4.1797

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 4 (2011)

Section

Short Papers

License

The submitting author warrants that the submission is original and that she/he is the author of the submission together with the named co-authors; to the extend the submission incorporates text passages, figures, data or other material from the work of others, the submitting author has obtained any necessary permission.
Articles in this journal are published under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC-BY What does this mean?). This is to get more legal certainty about what readers can do with published articles, and thus a wider dissemination and archiving, which in turn makes publishing with this journal more valuable for you, the authors.
By submitting an article the author grants to this journal the non-exclusive right to publish it. The author retains the copyright and the publishing rights for his article without any restrictions.