1. Upgrading the Teaching Process Through Estimation of Students Preferences for Elective Subjects in IT Field
Dr Marina Dobrota
Dr Veljko Jeremić
Dr Milan Martić
University of Belgrade
Faculty of Organizational Sciences

2. Introduction
Students nowadays are surrounded by the Internet and digital technology
Digital age - the reality of the present time
Digital contents are expanding a set of possibilities in education
Blended learning environments
cloud computing
open content
mobile learning
MOOC (Massive Open Online Course) format

3. Introduction Goal of the research:
How much do the digital technologies and digitalization influence the students when choosing among various elective subjects in the field of IT?
Are the students guided by the
broad set of opportunities that the digital age is offering, or
by the plain benefits as the high examination passing rate or the least possible amount of time needed to prepare the exam.

4. Methodology
Identifying the attributes and their respective levels which have the potential to influence students’ preferences and choices.
Choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis
Issues of interest:
(1) what attributes do students prefer while selecting an IT elective subject and
(2) how do students develop preferences for the elective subjects.

5. Methodology Stated preference approach:
how students value attributes by asking them to rank a set of alternatives (contingent ranking) or to choose the most preferred option
Sets of alternative profiles - form of choice questions
Each profile - a different mix of the attribute levels

6. Methodology
Initial task - to identify the specific attributes and their respective levels
Interviews with master degree students
CBC online platform Conjoint.ly
University of Belgrade
Faculty of Organizational Sciences (FOS)
Students in the second or third year of studies

7. Attributes and their levels
Attributes
Levels A
Difficulty of the exam -
The number of hours per week students need during the semester to prepare for the exam A1
8 hours A2
12 hours A3
16 hours B
Employed software –
Licensed versus open source software B1
Licensed software B2
Open source software C
Teaching methods –
The teaching/learning method that students find most appealing C1
Distance (Moodle) C2
Blended C3
Face-to-face D
Passing the exam –
The examination passing rate D1
More than 80% D2
65-80% D3
50-65%

8. Results
464 responses
Whether students have heard about any of the MOOC platforms:
37.5% Yes
62.5% No
Whether students took any of the MOOCs courses:
12.28% Yes
87.72% No
Whether students download and prepare all the teaching and learning materials on a regular basis:
19.4% Yes
62.93% Sometimes
17.67% No

9. Pre-exam and exam activities
Results
The average time of studying per week: M=19.13, SD=12.24
The distribution of the pre-exam and exam activities:
Pre-exam and exam activities
Project
Essay
Class activities
Tests - Written exam
Verbal exam
Points 22 10 7 30 31

10. Relative value by level Relative importance by attribute
Results
Attributes
Levels
Relative value by level
Relative importance by attribute A
Difficulty of the exam A1
8 hours
15%
36% A2
12 hours 6% A3
16 hours
-21% B
Employed software B1
Licensed software 1% 2% B2
Open source software
-1% C
Teaching methods C1
Distance (Moodle)
-18%
28% C2
Blended
10% C3
Face-to-face 8% D
Passing the exam D1
More than 80%
14%
34% D2
65-80% D3
50-65%
-20%

11. Results

12. Results

13. Results

14. Results

15. Conclusion
Students in FOS, Serbia, are rarely engaging in online courses (37.5% have heard of the MOOCs courses, and only 12.28% took any of the MOOCs)
Only 19.4% download and prepare all the teaching and learning materials on a regular basis.

16. Conclusion
Results of the CBC identified the examination passing rate and the time students take to prepare the exam to be more important attributes than some digital features as the use of the licensed software or digitally enhanced learning.
When choosing the IT elective subject, students are least driven by the digital attributes of these exams. They are rather driven by the easiness of the exam measured in light hours of work or high examination passing rate.

17. Conclusion
Future research – how the more intensive promotion of digital education would affect the future choices of new generations

18. Upgrading the Teaching Process Through Estimation of Students Preferences for Elective Subjects in IT Field
Dr Marina Dobrota
Dr Veljko Jeremić
Dr Milan Martić