The effects of E-learning on students’ motivation to learn in higher education

Abstract

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has forced educational institutions worldwide to adopt e-learning. UAE higher education institutions have implemented e-learning systems and programs to cope with this unprecedented situation. This paper measured the strength of association between key aspects of e-learning systems and programs and students’ motivation to learn in Ajman University (AU). Cronbach’s coefficient alpha was used to test the internal consistency reliability of key aspects of e-learning (EL-8) and students’ motivation to learn (SML-16). Exploratory factor analysis was used to test the validity of, and coherence of patterns in, the data. Parametric and non-parametric methods were used to investigate the strength of association between key aspects of e-learning and students’ motivation to learn in AU. The results indicated that motivation variables were more strongly correlated with both e-teaching materials and e-assessments key aspects relative to others such as e-discussion, and e-grade checking and feedback.