NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

ACCOUNTING & FINANCE BIFA

----------------------------------

ONLINE SELF-LEARNING APPLICATION

SURVEY

Lectures: Ms. Do Minh Diep

Class: BIFA 8D
Group members:
Dinh Thu Trang
Nguyen Huyen Trang
Do Minh Anh
Nguyen Bich Hoa
Acknowledgment:
Firstly, we are extremely grateful to our lecturer – Ms. Do Minh Diep. The project " The
impacts of online learning applications towards BIFA Intake 8 Students " would not have
been possible without her valuable advice.
In addition, we would like to express our thanks to all of the friends in BIFA Intake 8 who
filled out our online survey questionnaires and gave us a lot of useful recommendations.
Finally, we should also appreciate our families. They brought us some ideal suggestions to
successfully complete this project.

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Contents:
I- Introduction: page 2,3
1. Background
2. Rational
3. Topic, specific areas (Research Objective)
4. Research question
5. Research method
II- Findings and discussions:
1. The current situation of using online self-study applications that BIFA Intake 8 use
2. The analysis that BIFA 8 has came up to identify some of the effectiveness of online
learning applications
3. Some inconveniences that BIFA 8 has encountered in self-study applications
4. The satisfaction levels of BIFA8 with learning on mobile applications

III- Conclusion: page 15

IV- References: page 15
V- Appendix: page 16,17

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I- Introduction:
1. Background:
Apart from learning at school, self-study is very important to each student. With the
necessity of self-study, many learning apps have been created to make self-study easier. Self-
study through apps is an effective method for students who want to consolidate and
supplement their knowledge outside of after school.
Moreover, self-study with applications also helps students to make use of time and
study anywhere and at any time they want. With the recent changes in teaching and learning,
self-study has become increasingly necessary. However not everyone has money and time to
attend face-to-face courses and so learning online through apps is a practical solution.
University students can learn a lot from apps like a new language or fill in missing
knowledge as university.
On the other hand, university students may face some difficulties when learning
through apps. One reason is that some apps are not suited to their learning style. Also,
studying too much on apps causes fatigue if they do not know how to arrange their time
properly.
From the aforementioned, we want to analyze the influences of online self-study
applications on student's learning.
2. Rationale:
Most of today's students are exposed to a developed technological civilization and
more and more online self-study applications are born. That is one of the ways that students
can self-study and learn new knowledge to help hone and enrich their knowledge. Besides,
some students have not really used online self-study applications effectively. Therefore, we
have to find out those factors and come up with suitable solutions.
3. Topic, specific areas (Research Objective):
- Discovering the learning apps that BIFA intake 8 Students often use
- Finding out the reasons for studying through apps of BIFA intake 8 Students
- Finding out the advantages and disadvantages of learning through the applications of
BIFA intake 8 Students
- Finding solutions to self-study through online applications effectively
4. Research Question:
- What are the self-study apps that BIFA intake 8 Students often use?
- Why do BIFA intake 8 Students choose those apps to study?

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 - What are the advantages and disadvantages of BIFA intake 8 Students when using
self-study applications ?
- What are the solutions for BIFA Intake 8 Students to self-study through online
application effectively?
5. Research Method:
We will find out through the online form. We will submit research questions to BIFA
Intake 8 Students and gather statistics from at least 50% BIFA Intake 8 Students

III - Findings and discussions:

1. Current situation of online learning applications on student 's learning:
a. Current situation:

Figure 1: The current situation of online learning applications on student’s learning

towards BIFA Intake 8 Students
-The author resource-
The demand for using online self-study applications among Foreign Language
University students is very high, more than 92%, and about 95% of students have used online
self-study applications. Le Tra My (HTLU4-2021 said survey of students' demand for using
online self-study applications at the University of Foreign Languages).

More than 96% of students surveyed have used online self learning applications. (Effects of
using foreign language learning apps by foreign language students).
Most of the questionnaires were distributed and received back with the results that the use of
online self-study applications took place regularly. (The reality of using self-study
applications by students in Hanoi)

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According to this pie chart, we can see that the main situation is the use of online self
learning applications of BIFA Intake 8, 96.5% of the total students. Self-study apps are
constantly being innovated and developed, which has been anticipated with published
research, so self-study apps are always accessible to students.

On the other hand, about 5% of students have never used online self-study applications
because they think that applications cannot meet the amount of knowledge that students want.

b. Online self-study applications:

Figure 2: The online self-study applications chosen by BIFA Intake 8

-The author resource-
The above chart is given to get an insight into the online self-study applications used
by BIFA students. The major students of BIFA chose to use the Duolingo app (67.2%),
Qanda/Photomath app (65.6%), Elsa app (10.9%), Cake app (4.7%), Quizlet app (3.1%) and
the least chosen are Memrise and Wolfram Alpha applications with 1.6%.

According to the study "Favorite Apps by Students" (2019), the Photomath app accounted for
the most 65%, followed by the Duolingo app (60%), and the Quizlet app (35%).

In addition, in "Factors influencing the decision to use online self-study applications for
students at Foreign Trade University (2021)" the survey showed that Quizlet application
accounted for 39.6%, Elsa application accounted for 39.6%. 27% and Grammarly 15%.
My team interviewed some BIFA Intake 8 Students and the results were as follows: Luu
Quynh A shared: “Quizlet is very easy to use and can help retain knowledge longer”, Nguyen
Cam T shared: “Grammarly is a website to help improve my essay writing skills”.

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According to the effectiveness of self-study applications for foreign language students,
"Easy-to-learn applications are suitable for those who want to learn from a low level without
having any background knowledge". Through the survey, the applications are usually those
that are easy to download and use and have exercises from basic to advanced.

c. How to approach applications:

Figure 3: The approaches to online self-study applications of BIFA Intake 8

-The author resource-
The graph above depicts how BIFA Intake 8 students use learning applications.
Because all classes have been online for over three years, the majority of students (79.7%)
are familiar with the applications through social media. BIFA students may quickly access
learning tools through social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok
thanks to current technology and the omnipresent Internet. Everyone's input is accessible to
the public, making it easy to compare. Due to social isolation and extensive online learning,
the rate of engagement with friends is second only to that with family (57.8 percent ).

This percentage is fairly high, accounting for half of the survey, thanks to four months of
face-to-face instruction. To make progress together, people frequently share learning methods
and programs like Duolingo with their lesser learners. Students are more likely to listen to
friends' suggestions, which is why the number of students who use learning applications
through teachers is so low (3.1 percent ). Students' interactions with their professors are still
reserved and closed, thus they frequently simply listen to lectures in class and seldom speak
with teachers after school.

The graphic also clearly illustrates that the lowest percentage of pupils searches for English
learning applications on their own through an app store such as CH Play or the App Store.

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 2. Time:

Figure 4: The amount of time BIFA Intake 8 Students use online self-study applications per
day
-The author resource-
According to statistics, most BIFA Intake 8 students use applications for self-study
every day. Half of the students use the self-study apps for 1 to 2 hours a day, this number
accounts for about 50% of the total number of students taking the survey. Approximately
with the number of students above, about 39% of students participating in the survey show
that they use self-study applications for less than 1 hour per day. A few other students spend a
lot of time using learning apps, about 3-4 hours a day, not much, just over 6%. The majority
of students use the applications, so the number of students who do not use it is very small,
only 2%.

The arrangement of self-study time is always a difficult problem for many students. Although
self-study is very good and necessary for all students, it is very difficult to arrange the right
time, to balance study time and time for other activities.

In fact, the amount of study time for each student is different, besides the classroom hours,
each student should study on their own for about 3 hours per day. Learning will be less
stressful if students know how to alternate relaxing time while studying, which can be met by
self-study applications, because there are many applications that combine exercises and
games, making learning more effective and not boring. Combining self-study time on books
and learning through apps, the appropriate time for learning through apps is 1-2 hours a day.

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Overall, the majority of BIFA Intake 8 Students spend about 1-2 hours a day studying
through applications. This is the right amount of time, it helps students effectively balance
study time and other work.

3. Subject:

Figure 5: The subjects that the BIFA Intake 8 Students use self-study applications.
-The author resource-
Above is a chart showing the subjects that BIFA Intake 8 students often learn through
applications. A large number of students choose to learn math through self-study
applications, accounting for about 73.7%. Beside, another subject that students often learn
through applications is English (66.7%), a few students choose Literature (5.3%) and some
other language (Japanese : 2%). Only a small number of students do not study on self-study
applications.

We have found out some of the reasons that students choose certain subjects to study on the
applications as follows:

Accordingly, students often choose applications that help them learn subjects they like or
subjects they are not good at and need to improve or supplement their knowledge. However,
some subjects are chosen by many students (such as Math, English) to learn through
applications because those subjects are diverse, easy to understand and have interesting topics
that attract students. In addition, a small number of students said that they use the
applications because they are well promoted, have good reviews, and make them want to try
learning that subject on the app.

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N.B.H shared (BIFA 8 student) : “I choose to learn English through the Duolingo app
because there are many interesting lessons, it is easy to understand, help me supplement my
vocabulary to learn English”. Hong My (BIFA 8 student) said : “Qanda is a quite suitable
application for me, helping me to study better”.

In short, students often choose to learn Math and English through apps. Those are subjects
that have many special applications, diverse topics and are easiest to find.

4. The inconveniences:

Figure 6: Inconveniences when using the applications of the reasons not to use applications.
-The author resource-
The collected data of BIFA Intake 8 students participating in the survey revealed the
difficulties and inconveniences when using self-learning applications. The most
inconvenience many students experience is limited exercises (occupying 50%), unstable
internet connection (40.3%), slow application (23.6%), and advertisements (8.3%). Only a
small number of students feel satisfied with the self-study applications.

Although self-study applications have many advantages, there are also some limitations on
exercises. Some lessons are too few or too simple, do not cause interest, easily make students
boring, or do not provide much knowledge for students.

An unstable network connection also causes certain difficulties when learning, it affects the
learning progress of students. It will be very annoying when learning is interrupted too much.
Advertisements in applications are also a source of difficulty for students to self-study. Too
much advertising will be annoying because you always have to wait a certain amount of time

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to turn them off. It has a bad effect that interrupts the learning process and reduces the
concentration of students, easily making them feel bored.

Tra My (BIFA Intake 8 student) shared: “In my opinion, some solutions in photomath are not
clear, quite difficult to understand. Cannot solve difficult math problems. I find it not suitable
for me”.

The results of this survey indicate that limited exercises, unstable internet connection, and
advertisements are the inconveniences that BIFA Intake 8 students often concounter when
using self-study applications. These students still continue to use the applications even
though they are not completely satisfied with them. This is a problem that needs to be solved
soon, so that students don’t get bored with self-study through applications.

5. BIFA Intake 8 students’ requirements for these apps:

Figure 7: Some suggestions to improve these applications

-The author resource-
The chart above included several solutions to increase the quality of online self-study
online applications. In the ways mentioned, the chart shows that adding a brief summary of
knowledge after each lesson is the best way to make these applications more effective. This
way accounts for nearly 70% of the total number of students attending the survey.
Traditionally, summarizing knowledge is still the most familiar and favorite way of learning
for BIFA 8 in particular and Vietnamese students in general.

Besides, around half of students (48,4 %) surveyed suggested that there should be more
diverse exercises to practice. The reason can be explained for this is due to the limitation of

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practicing ways, self-study app users are unlikely to absorb and understand a huge amount of
knowledge that they have not entirely known before. Therefore, it is really necessary to
expand extra exercises.

On the other hand, about 38% of students would like to combine fun with learning. This is
because some applications are poorly designed without images or sound which could cause
students not to be interested in using self-educated platforms. As a result, making these
applications funnier is a good suggestion that would attract students to download them. In
addition, some ways are taken by students such as reducing advertisements.

In summary, there is a wide range of suggestions mentioned to help BIFA Intake 8 students
find the ideal learning ways and improve their academic results.

6. Fondness:

Figure 8+9: The fondness of students for these applications

-The author resource-
In the two pie charts above, a majority of BIFA 8 students ( 76,5%) chosen YES
about having an intention to use their current application for a long time, and 92,2 % of BIFA
Intake 8 students who took part in our survey decided to recommend their streaming self-
study platform for everyone around them. This can illustrate their satisfaction level with apps
that are used to study. Using self-study apps, in the long run, can form a good habit for

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students to review old lessons regularly. Furthermore, students can help each other in order to
improve their scores by sharing their own learning ways with online applications.

However, based on the data of this study, around a quarter of students chose NO and Unknow
for using their current applications in the future. This could be due to the application not
effective for their study and the lack of factors that were introduced in section 7. The
percentage of students who went for NO whenever they wanted to review their own self-
education for their friends is very low (only 7,4%).

In conclusion, these pie charts show good signals about most of the students in BIFA8
choosing the right application and the great communication amongst students.

7. The effectiveness:

Figure 10: The effectiveness of the self-learning application of BIFA 8 Intake students.
-The author resource-
The bar chart below gives information about the effectiveness of the self-learning
application according to the evaluation of BIFA Intake 8 students. The chart is divided into
five levels : levels 1-2 indicate disagreement, while levels 3-5 indicate agreement.

We can readily observe from the data in the graph that 93.2% of total students can see their
learning progress significantly when using the self-study application, in which 64,4% of the
chart showed that students highly appreciated the effectiveness of the self-study application
(levels 4-5)

"Using a self-learning application helped me consolidate my previous information and

enhance my skills," remarked L.H.G, a BIFA 8 student.

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Not only G but many other students also agree with the above opinion. There are currently
many high-quality lectures available on the self-learning application that are appropriate for
each student's level. Students can also watch the lecture multiple times to ensure that they
understand everything. Some self-learning applications, such as Duolingo, use a learning-by-
play strategy to assist students feel at ease while learning, enhancing their ability to acquire
new information. We can observe how beneficial the self-learning application can be for
students based on the survey results.

On the other side, 6,8% of students surveyed did not believe their self-learning application
was useful in helping them study.

"Not everyone can effectively learn using a self-learning application." D.M.P. said (BIFA 8
student).

In conclusion, the majority of BIFA Intake 8 students who took part in the survey felt that
self-learning applications are helpful. Although it is limited to a tiny portion, the self-
learning application is still a fantastic choice for students who wish to improve their studying
quality.

8. Save time and money:

Figure 11: Rating chart of the usefulness in saving money and time when using a self-
learning app of BIFA Intake 8 students

-The author resource-

The chart is divided into five levels : levels 1-2 indicate disagreement, while levels 3-
5 indicate agreement.

Based on the survey, the self-learning application saves nearly 90% of BIFA 8 students
money and time.

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"I don't have to go around or worry about tuition expenses because I use the self-learning
application" N.P.A (BIFA 8 student) explained, "because all courses are free and I can study
at any time."

Moving to lessons can be inconvenient for students who follow the traditional learning
technique. Students, on the other hand, can study whenever and wherever they want with the
self-learning application. Furthermore, using self-learning applications allows students to
save the most money on their education. Students can still consolidate their knowledge
through the lectures accessible on the self-learning application without spending any money.

However, more than 10% of students believe that self-study applications do not help them
save money or time when it comes to studying.

"I have spent most of my time studying at school," H.D.K.Q (BIFA 8 student) explained, "so
using a self-study application will require extra time."

In brief, most students may save a lot of time and money by using the self-learning
application. Besides, a tiny percentage of students are unable to organize their time in order
to use the self-study application.

9. The satisfaction:

Figure 12: Satisfaction with the self-study app of BIFA Intake 8 students

-The author resource-

The graph is divided into five levels, with levels 1-2 indicating dissatisfaction and
levels 3-5 indicating satisfaction.

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According to the graph, 93.1% of BIFA Intake 8 students felt satisfied with self-learning
applications.

“Learning with the application is incredibly convenient and straightforward.” Said by N.H.A
(BIFA 8 student).

Self-learning applications are becoming increasingly popular among students who have
access to a pleasant study place and flexible study time. According to the chart above, the
majority of BIFA Intake 8 students surveyed had a positive experience with the self-learning
application.

However, the rest of the graph shows that 6,9% of students believe the self-study application
is insufficient.

During our research, we discovered that the self-learning application had its own set of
constraints. In some other applications, for example, the number of lectures is limited or
students are unable to participate with the lesson. This definitely causes student
dissatisfaction during the application process.

In summary, the majority of BIFA Intake 8 students are delighted with the self-study
application.

10. The solution to self-study through applications effective:

Through the survey, we found that students still face some inconveniences when
using self-study applications, which affects the quality of self-study. We conclude that
finding a solution to self-study through the application is essential for effective learning.

Firstly, students should identify what they need to achieve in the discipline. Having a clear
goal will motivate you to achieve, do not use the applications just to imitate your friends.
Learning without goals will easily make students feel bored, so self-study through the
applications will not be effective.

Second, choose a comfortable learning environment (such as a private room, library,…) with
a stable network connection to avoid the interruption of applied learning due to faulty or slow
connection.

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Third, learn the applications well before using it, choose the right application for yourself,
avoid the application that is not suitable for the learning level that students want to achieve
(for example, the level is too easy or too difficult,...)

Fourth, students need to balance study time and time for other activities. Learning through
apps can help students a lot (saving time, cheap,..) but if you don’t know how to balance the
time, studying too much can lead to fatigue.

Finally, students need to have motivation and self-discipline to study. Good physical and
mental health makes studying more enjoyable and less stressful. So learning through
applications becomes more effective.

Additionally, application publishers can update installations to increase the difficulty and
number of exercises, creating variety for learning applications and engaging students.

III - Conclusion:

Through the results of the study, we can conclude that the self-study application
influences the students. The proof is that most students know about the self-study application
through major social networking platforms and friends. More specifically, in addition to
spending time studying in school, most students believe and look to self-study applications as
a method to improve learning quality. Through the survey results, Math and English are the
two subjects that students seek knowledge the most. Through the learning application, on
average, students spend about 1~2 hours per day consolidating their knowledge. From the
answers of the students, the self-study application improved the quality of students' learning
somewhat. The majority of students feel satisfied when experiencing the application and will
continue to use them as well as introduce to everyone around them about the learning
application. In addition, a small part of the students felt that the learning application did not
bring the desired results. Therefore, we have proposed solutions to help students improve the
use of self-study applications.

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IV- Reference:
1. TESLA Education. “Practicing Self-Study Skills with Online Learning.” PARENT

LEARNING, 24 Sept. 2021.

2. Liz, W. (n.d.). Self-study: a developing research approach for professional learning.

University of Hertfordshire, 4(1). Retrieved May 28, 2022, from
https://www.herts.ac.uk/link/volume-4,-issue-1/self-study-a-developing-research-
approach-for-professional-learning
3. Sam O'Brien. “The 8 Best Free Educational Apps and Websites for Online Learning.”

Readde, 3 Sept. 2020, readdle.com/blog/free-educational-apps.

4. Wikipedia

V- Appendix:
1.Have you ever used a self - study app?
A. Yes
B. No
2. What apps are you using?
A. Duolingo
B. Qanda/ Photomath
C. Elsa
D. Others subjects
3. How do you find out about self-study apps?
A. Through friends
B. Through teachers
C. On social media
D. Others

4. How much time a day do you spend on self-study apps?

A. Less than 1 hour
B. 1-2 hours
C. 3-4 hours
D. More than 4 hours
5. What subjects do you study on these apps?

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 A. Maths
B. English
C. Others subjects
6. Have you encountered any inconveniences when using these apps?
A. Unstable internet connection
B. Slow application
C. Limited exercises
D. Others
7. Your suggestions to improve these apps?
A. Adding a brief summary of knowledge after each lesson
B. Combining fun with learning
C. More diverse exercises
D. Others
8. Will you continue to use the apps you are currently using?
A. Yes
B. No
C. Unknown
9. Would you recommend the self- study apps you are using to the people around you?
A. Yes
B. No
10. Do self-study apps improve your learning? ( 1: the least
5: the most)
Rate: 1-5
11. Do self-study apps save your time and money? ( ( 1: the least
5: the most)
Rate: 1-5

12. Your satisfaction with the apps? ( 1: the least

5: the most)
Rate: 1-5

Link survey: https://forms.gle/2mrAim4FbbSVRyin8

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