An Analysis of Online Learning Behavior Among College Students: A Systematic Review

Abstract

The study of online learning behavior is a hot topic in the current study of online education. The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic review of the online learning behavior of college students to explain the types of online learning behavior, research topics, influencing factors, variables, indicators, and research methods in this field of study. Using standardized steps of conducting a systematic review, an initial set of 3418 articles was identified. The final sample includes 59 key publications. The research findings indicated that the selected articles mainly focus on the following topics, such as online learning behavior and self-regulate learning, identification of learned behavior patterns, personalized intervention, academic performance prediction and academic early warning, as well as data privacy and security. Interestingly,­­­ self-regulate learning ability has been considered as the main factor influencing college students' online learning behavior. The online learning behavior variables used by researchers usually used are login activities, learning resources, forum interactions, assignments and tests. Additionally, the research methods usually used in selected articles are educational data mining and learning analytics. This study is important for educators to use the online learning behavior of college students to make instructional interventions timely to improve teaching effectiveness.