With the arrival of education informatization

the online elective courses have become an important means of teaching at universities. Problems

such as insufficient attentions from universities and low learning enthusiasm of students

are quite common. Based on the curriculum setting of online courses at a university

we performed a study to identify root causes of those common problems. Students' gender

major

current academic year and their school-year were collected and analyzed to detect any potential differences in the time spent in studying and course grades. With the results in hands

we propose that universities should promote online elective courses

guide students to scientifically plan study time

stimulate students' initiatives for study

shape out students' self-learning and life-long learning abilities

so as to fulfil the destiny of the online elective courses as a powerful complement to traditional teaching.