Abstract
The acceptance of Educational Data Mining (EDM) technology is on the rise due to, its ability to extract new knowledge from large amounts of students’ data. This knowledge is important for educational stakeholders, such as policy makers, educators, and students themselves to enhance efficiency and achievements. However, previous studies on EDM have focused more on technical aspects, such as evaluating methods and techniques, while ignoring the end-users’ acceptance of the technology. Realising its importance, this study has analysed the determinants that could influence the acceptance of EDM technology, particularly among undergraduate students since they are the most affected by the technology. For this reason, 11 hypotheses have been formulated based on determinants of technology readiness index (TRI) and technology acceptance model 3 (TAM3), which could render an in-depth insight regarding EDM acceptance. A survey was conducted on 211 undergraduate students from six public universities in Malaysia for a period of 6 months (May to October 2014) using questionnaires as the instrument to collect data to test the hypothesised relationships. The partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was used to analyse the proposed acceptance model, which was run using SmartPLS, version 3 software. The findings have revealed that ‘relevance for analysing’, ‘self-efficacy’, ‘facilitating conditions’, ‘perceived usefulness’, ‘perceived ease of use’, ‘optimism’ and ‘discomfort’ have influenced the acceptance of EDM technology among undergraduate students.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
Agudo-Peregrina, Á. F., Hernández-García, Á., & Pascual-Miguel, F. J. (2014). Behavioral intention, use behavior and the acceptance of electronic learning systems: differences between higher education and lifelong learning. Computers in Human Behavior, 34, 301–314.
Arnold, K. E., & Pistilli, M. D. (2012). Course Signals at Purdue: Using Learning Analytics to Increase Student Success. Learning Analytics Knowledge (pp. 2–5).
Arnold, K. E., Tanes, Z., & King, A. S. (2010). Administrative perceptions of data-mining software signals: promoting student success and retention. The Journal of Academic Administration in Higher Education, 6(2).
Arnold, K. E., Lonn, S., & Pistilli, M. D. (2014). An exercise in institutional reflection: The learning analytics readiness instrument (LARI), Paper presented at the 4th international conference on learning analytics and knowledge. Indianapolis: ACM.
Babbie, E. R. (1990). Survey research methods (2nd ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Baker, R. S. J. D. (2010). Advances in intelligent tutoring systems, Mining data for student models (pp. 323–337). Berlin: Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
Barneveld, A. Van, Arnold, K. E., & Campbell, J. P. (2012, Analytics in higher education: establishing a common language. EDUCAUSE, 1–11.
Behrend, T. S., Wiebe, E. N., London, J. E., & Johnson, E. C. (2011). Cloud computing adoption and usage in community colleges. Behaviour & Information Technology, 30(2), 231–240.
Blagojević, M., & Micić, Ž. (2013). A web-based intelligent report e-learning system using data mining techniques. Computers and Electrical Engineering, 39(2), 465–474.
Bousbia, N., & Belamri, I. (2014). Educational data mining, Which contribution does EDM provide to computer-based learning environments? (pp. 3–28). Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Caison, A. L., Bulman, D., Pai, S., & Neville, D. (2008). Exploring the technology readiness of nursing and medical students at a Canadian university. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 22(3), 283–294.
Chamizo-Gonzalez, J., Cano-Montero, E. I., Urquia-Grande, E., & Muñoz-Colomina, C. I. (2015). Educational data mining for improving learning outcomes in teaching accounting within higher education. The International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 32(5), 272–285.
Chin, W. W. (1998a). Issues and opinion on structural equation modeling. MIS Quarterly, 22(1).
Chin, W. W. (1998b). Modern methods for business research, The partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling (pp. 295–336). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Chin, W. W. (2010). Handbook of partial least squares, How to write up and report PLS analyses (pp. 655–690). Berlin: Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Chiu, Y. T. H., Fang, S. C., & Tseng, C. C. (2010). Early versus potential adopters: exploring the antecedents of use intention in the context of retail service innovations. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 38(6), 443–459.
Compeau, D. R., & Higgins, C. A. (1995). Computer self-efficacy: development of a measure and initial test. MIS Quarterly, 19(2), 189–211.
Daniel, B. (2014). Big data and analytics in higher education: opportunities and challenges. British Journal of Educational Technology, 46, 904–920.
Davcik, N. S. (2014). The use and misuse of structural equation modeling in management research: a review and critique. Journal of Advances in Management Research, 11(1), 47–81.
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340.
Erdoğmuş, N., & Esen, M. (2011). An investigation of the effects of technology readiness on technology acceptance in e-HRM. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 24, 487–495.
Escobar-Rodriguez, T., & Monge-Lozano, P. (2012). The acceptance of Moodle technology by business administration students. Computers & Education, 58(4), 1085–1093.
Falk, R. F., & Miller, N. B. (1992). A primer for soft modeling. Ohio: The Guilford Press.
Ferguson, R. (2012). Learning analytics: drivers, developments and challenges. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 4(5/6), 304–317.
Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. Journal of Marketing Research, 18(1), 39–50.
García, E., Romero, C., Ventura, S., & de Castro, C. (2011). A collaborative educational association rule mining tool. The Internet and Higher Education, 14(2), 77–88.
Gašević, D., Dawson, S., & Siemens, G. (2015). Lets’ not forget: learning analytics are about learning. TechTrends, 59(1), 64–71.
Gefen, D., Straub, D. W., & Boudreau, M. C. (2000). Structural equation modeling and regression: guidelines for research practice. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 4(7), 1–79.
Godoe, P., & Johansen, T. S. (2012). Understanding adoption of new technologies: technology readiness and technology acceptance as an integrated concept. Journal of European Psychology Students, 3, 38–53.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2006). Multivariate data analysis: A global perspective (6th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Hair, J. F., Black, W. C., Babin, B. J., & Anderson, R. E. (2010). Multivarite data analysis: A global perspective (7th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Hair, J. F., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2013). Partial least squares structural equation modeling: rigorous applications, better results and higher acceptance. Long Range Planning, 46(1–2), 1–12.
Hair, J. F., Hult, G. T. M., Ringle, C. M., & Sarstedt, M. (2014a). A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications.
Hair, J. F., Sarstedt, M., Hopkins, L., & Kuppelwieser, V. G. (2014b). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): an emerging tool in business research. European Business Review, 26(2), 106–121.
Hart, M., Esat, F., Rocha, M., & Khatieb, Z. (2007). Introducing students to business intelligence: acceptance and perceptions of OLAP software. Issues in Information Science and Information Technology, 4(1), 105–123.
Henseler, J., Ringle, C. M., & Sinkovics, R. R. (2009). The use of partial least squares path modeling in international marketing. Advances in International Marketing, 20(2009), 277–319.
Huang, T. C. K., Liu, C. C., & Chang, D. C. (2012). An empirical investigation of factors influencing the adoption of data mining tools. International Journal of Information Management, 32(3), 257–270.
Hung, S. W., & Cheng, M. J. (2013). Are you ready for knowledge sharing? An empirical study of virtual communities. Computers & Education, 62, 8–17.
Jan, A. U., & Contreras, V. (2011). Technology acceptance model for the use of information technology in universities. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(2), 845–851.
Jarvis, C. B., Mackenzie, S. B., & Podsakoff, P. M. (2003). A critical review of construct indicators and measurement model misspecification in marketing and consumer research. Journal of Consumer Research, 30(2), 199–218.
Jin, C. (2013). The perspective of a revised TRAM on social capital building: the case of Facebook usage. Information & Management, 50(4), 162–168.
Khaled, M. S. F., & Mohammed-Issa, R. M. J. (2015). Assessing the moderating effect of gender differences and individualism-collectivism at individual-level on the adoption of mobile commerce technology: TAM3 perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 22, 37–52.
Kuo, K. M., Liu, C. F., & Ma, C. C. (2013). An investigation of the effect of nurses’ technology readiness on the acceptance of mobile electronic medical record systems. BMC Medical Informatics and Decision Making, 13(8), 88.
Lai, M. L. (2008). Technology readiness, internet self-efficacy and computing experience of professional accounting students. Campus-Wide Information Systems, 25(1), 18–29.
Liaqat, A., Mohsen, A., Gašević, D., Jovanović, J., & Marek, H. (2013). Factors influencing beliefs for adoption of a learning analytics tool: an empirical study. Computers & Education, 62, 130–148.
Liljander, V., Gillberg, F., Gummerus, J., & van Riel, A. (2006). Technology readiness and the evaluation and adoption of self-service technologies. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 13(3), 177–191.
Lin, J. S. C., & Chang, H. C. (2011). The role of technology readiness in self-service technology acceptance. Managing Service Quality, 21(4), 424–444.
Lin, C. H., Shih, H. Y., & Sher, P. J. (2007). Integrating technology readiness into technology acceptance: the TRAM model. Psychology and Marketing, 24(7), 641–657.
Merhi, M. I. (2015). Factors influencing higher education students to adopt podcast: an empirical study. Computers & Education, 83, 32–43.
Nemati, H. R., & Barko, C. D. (2003). Key factors for achieving organizational data-mining success. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 103(4), 282–292.
Nemati, H. R., & Barko, C. D. (2010). Organizational data mining. Data mining and knowledge discovery handbook (2nd ed., pp. 1041–1048). Springer.
Noornina, D., Ramayah, T., & Koay, A. H. (2002a). Data mining in the banking industry: An exploratory study. Paper presented at the International Conference 2002. Internet, Economy and Business (p. 6). Kuala Lumpur.
Noornina, D., Ramayah, T., & Mei, L. L. (2002b). Readiness to adopt data mining technologies: an exploratory study of telecommunication employees in Malaysia. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 25(69), 75–86.
Nunally, J. C. (1978). Psychometric theory (2nd ed.). New York: McGraw Hill.
Ocumpaugh, J., Baker, R. S. J. D., Gowda, S., Heffernan, N., & Heffernan, C. (2014). Population validity for educational data mining models: a case study in affect detection. British Journal of Educational Technology, 45(3), 487–501.
Papamitsiou, Z., & Economides, A. a. (2014). Learning analytics and educational data mining in practice: a systematic literature review of empirical evidence. Educational Technology and Society, 17(4), 49–64.
Parasuraman, A. (2000). Technology readiness index (TRI): a multiple-item scale to measure readiness to embrace new technologies. Journal of Service Research, 2(4), 307–320.
Park, E., & Kim, K. J. (2014). An integrated adoption model of mobile cloud services: exploration of key determinants and extension of technology acceptance model. Telematics and Informatics, 31(3), 376–385.
Peña-Ayala, A. (2014). Educational data mining: a survey and a data mining-based analysis of recent works. Expert Systems with Applications, 41(4), 1432–1462.
Ramayah, T., Noornina, D., & Ruzi, P. A. (2007). Employees’ data mining readiness in the Malaysian insurance industry: a preliminary study. International Journal of Management Practices & Contemporary Thoughts, 2(1), 18–27.
Ranjan, R., Ranjan, J., & Bhatnagar, V. (2013). Critical success factor for implementing data mining in higher education: Indian perspective. International Journal of Computational Systems Engineering, 1(3), 151–161.
Romero, C., & Ventura, S. (2010). Educational data mining: a review of the state of the art. IEEE Transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, 40(6), 601–618.
Romero, C., & Ventura, S. (2013). Data mining in education. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery, 3(1), 12–27.
Romero, C., Ventura, S., Pechenizkiy, M., & Baker, R. S. J. D. (2011). Handbook of educational data mining. Minnesota: Taylor & Francis Group.
Romero-Zaldivar, V. A., Pardo, A., Burgos, D., & Kloos, C. D. (2012). Monitoring student progress using virtual appliances: a case study. Computers and Education, 58(4), 1058–1067.
Roumeliotis, M., & Maria, T. (2014). Perception and adoption of technology based services by students of higher education. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications, 4(3), 1–5.
Sarstedt, M., Ringle, C. M., Smith, D., Reams, R., & Hair, J. F. (2014). Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM): a useful tool for family business researchers. Journal of Family Business Strategy, 5(1), 105–115.
Sekaran, U. (2005). Research methods for business - a skill building approach (4th ed.). New York: Wiley.
Siemens, G., & Baker, R. S. J. D. (2012). Learning analytics and educational data mining: Towards communication and collaboration. Paper presented at the 2nd International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge (pp. 252–254). ACM.
Summak, M. S., Bağlıbel, M., & Samancıoğlu, M. (2010). Technology readiness of primary school teachers: a case study in Turkey. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2(2), 2671–2675.
Teo, T. (2011). Technology acceptance in education. Rotterdam: SensePublishers.
Terzis, V., & Economides, A. A. (2011). The acceptance and use of computer based assessment. Computers & Education, 56(4), 1032–1044.
Tsikriktsis, N. (2004). A technology readiness-based taxonomy of customers: a replication and extension. Journal of Service Research, 7(1), 42–52.
Urbach, N., & Ahlemann, F. (2010). Structural equation modeling in information systems research using partial least squares. Journal of Information Technology Theory and Application, 11(2), 5–40.
Venkatesh, V. (2000). Determinants of perceived ease of use: integrating control, intrinsic motivation, and emotion into the technology acceptance model. Information Systems Research, 11(4), 342–365.
Venkatesh, V., & Bala, H. (2008). Technology acceptance model 3 and a research agenda on interventions. Decision Sciences, 39(2), 273–315.
Venkatesh, V., & Davis, F. D. (2000). A theoretical extension of the technonology acceptance model: four longitudinal field studies. Management Science, 46(2), 186–204.
Venkatesh, V., Morris, M. G., Davis, G. B., & Davis, F. D. (2003). User acceptance of information technology: toward a unified view. MIS Quarterly, 27(3), 425–478.
Walczuch, R., Lemmink, J., & Streukens, S. (2007). The effect of service employees’ technology readiness on technology acceptance. Information & Management, 44(2), 206–215.
Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). Consumer perceptions of price, quality and value: a means-end model and synthesis of evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52(3), 2–22.
Zhang, P., Li, N., & Sun, H. (2006). Affective quality and cognitive absorption: Extending technology acceptance research. Paper presented at the 39th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS’06).
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments on this paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wook, M., Yusof, Z.M. & Nazri, M.Z.A. Educational data mining acceptance among undergraduate students. Educ Inf Technol 22, 1195–1216 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9485-x
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-016-9485-x