Usage patterns and effects of mobile learning activities using social learning apps on the achievement of undergraduate students in a history of art course

The main objective of the study was to identify the effect of mobile learning activities using social learning applications (apps) based on the principles of constructivist learning on students’ learning achievement and behavioral patterns in a History of Art Course. Accordingly, two mobile apps, Pinterest and Piazza, were adopted in the present study. A one-group pretest and posttest experimental design was implemented to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The participants were 57 female students studying in the second semester of the Computer Arts program of a public sector women university of Pakistan. The intervention spanned 6 weeks, and comprised four assignments given alternately on Pinterest and Piazza each week so that the students could use both tools at least twice. Student performances were measured using a pretest and posttest. The results revealed that there was a significant effect of using the social learning apps on the students’ achievement in the History of Art Course. Low achievers gained significantly more than high achievers. The results suggest that well-designed activities using social learning apps need to be incorporated into the teaching of courses for undergraduate students.