Dr. Vivek Natarajan

Today, we are spotlighting Lamar University professors Dr. Vivek Natarajan, Associate Professor of Marketing, and Dr. Lynn Godkin, Professor of Management. They were 2012 Faculty Research Grant Recipients for their proposal, “Technology readiness and learning goals as antecedents to student satisfaction and learning outcomes in online and traditional settings: An exploratory study.” We are thrilled to share their findings in their research and thank them for participating in our Faculty Research Grant Program. Below is the abstract along with a link to the full report.

Abstract

Research concerning antecedents of student satisfaction in undergraduate education is a fertile area for research with implications for faculty, higher education administrators, and policy makers. It is critical as faculty seek to attract, engage, and graduate a growing population of college students in the classroom and on-line. Online education provides a radical and innovative approach to bring higher education to largely underserved and non-traditional populations. It is a needy area of research at this particular juncture. Student satisfaction is necessary to the recruitment of students to additional education. Student engagement in learning is very important to the education process. Student satisfaction with the learning environment, content, and approach are all important to success in this arena.

Dr. Lynn Godkin

This pilot research focused on two antecedent variables that have been used in the literature including: (1) Technological Readiness – the propensity for people to embrace and use new technology for accomplishing goals in home life and work (Parasuraman, 200) and (2) Learning Goal Orientation – a measure of the “desire to develop the self by acquiring new skills, mastering new situations, and improving one’s competence” (Vaudewalle, 1997).

Click here for the final report, “Technology readiness and learning goals as antecedents to student satisfaction and learning outcomes in online and traditional settings: An exploratory study.”