The effects of different online interaction designs based on thinking styles of students on academic achievement and motivation

The aim of this research was to investigate the effects of different thinking styles of students and different online interaction designs based on these styles on academic achievements and motivations of students. In this research, 2x2 factorial design was applied. The independent variables of the research were thinking style and learning environment. Two different thinking styles one of which is internal style and the other external style were taken into consideration. Two different learning environments, in one of which interaction was designed based on internal thinking style and the other external thinking style, were used. Dependent variables of the research were academic achievement and motivation. A total of 66 students, from Ahi Evran University Mucur Community College Department of Computer Programming, composed the sample of the research.It was found that different interaction designs based on students? thinking styles made a significant difference between academic achievements in formative evaluation. Students who studied in the learning environment that provided interaction design based on external thinking style were found to be more successful. On the other hand students? academic achievements in summative evaluation did not differ according to their thinking styles or learning environments. Similarly students? motivations did not differ according to their thinking styles or learning environments.As a result the learning environment that provided interaction design based on external thinking style was more valuable for all students in terms of formative evaluation. Interaction designs based on students? thinking styles did not make significant difference between academic achievements in terms of summative evaluation or between motivations of students.