The Influence of Educational Technologies and Students‘ Academic Disposition on Their Study Success in the First Year at University

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the research on student success in the first year at Faculty of Transport Engineering, University of Pardubice, Czech Republic. The research focused on the issue of students and their academic disposition as well as on the educational technologies used within the framework of teaching mathematics in the first semester at the university. The research included both full-time and part-time students. During the semester, the students had the opportunity to attend lectures, seminars and one additional seminar. The available study aids were in the form of printed textbooks supplemented by compact discs, which included video recordings of the procedures used to solve the problems and exercises discussed. Additionally, the video recording of the current lecture was published using the university intranet after every lecture. The research aimed to find out which educational technologies are convenient for different groups of students and how they affect the student attendance at lectures and seminars. The research was conducted using a questionnaire. The obtained data were statistically evaluated. The research proved that full-time students use their notes from lectures and especially from seminars to study. Part-time students use the multimedia textbooks and the video recordings of lectures the most. The publication of the lecture video recordings has a slightly negative effect on the student attendance, but they are beneficial for the majority of students.