Determining the effectiveness of pre-university student’s online learning in Geography subject using relative importance index

Abstract

This study aims to examine the Relative Importance Index (RII) that influences online learning in the subject of Geography. The study adopted survey research design involving five secondary schools in the state of Perak, Malaysia consisted of 135 preuniversity students selected via simple random sampling method. Data were collected through a questionnaire developed by the researchers. The questionnaire was composed of 45 items to measure interest, acceptance, and effectiveness. The collected data were analyzed via SPSS software using descriptive analysis and RII analysis. Findings of the study revealed that the statement; ‘when learning there is an interesting video display’ had the highest RII value (RII = 0.8933), while ‘I prefer to learn through the internet because any time I can learn ‘received the second highest RII value (RII = 0.8296) for the factor acceptance criteria. For the learning effectiveness criteria, the ‘online learning factor created curiosity to me in the subject of Geography’ had the highest RII value (RII = 0.8281). Finally, for the achievement criteria, the factor of ‘understanding the important contents in learning through attractive colors and graphics contributes the highest RII value (RII = 0.8207). On average, the RII value of the interest criterion was in the highest position (RII = 0.8076), followed by the achievement criterion (RII = 0.7684). Meanwhile, the learning effectiveness criteria were in the lowest position (RII = 0.7516) of the overall study criteria. The conclusion from this study shows that the criteria of interest and achievement are the main factors of online learning choices of pre-university Geography students.