Online unit design and student learning

Reflecting on the design and delivery of an online master's level unit, the paper focuses on the relationship between unit design and student learning. This unit is a core unit within a Master program that has been offered online since 2000. The unit is designed to provide numerous opportunities for student participation in Discussion Boards using Blackboard technologies. Relationships between study patterns, participation in Discussion Boards and students' performance are explored. Course statistics generated by the Blackboard technology for five years are used to explore the above relationships. A strong positive relationship does exist between study patterns, participation in the Discussion Boards and students' performance. The more frequently students access the online material, the more they participate in the Discussion Boards, the more this leads to a better performance in the unit as measured by the final grade achieved in the unit.