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Comparing online and traditional classes.

Article Excerpt
Abstract

This study compared the experiences of students in online and traditional statistics classes. A two-condition quasi-experiment with a pretest and a post-test was employed to compare performance, attitudes and satisfaction between two groups of learners. Results indicate that exam scores for the students in the traditional group were significantly higher than were the scores for the online group on two of five exams. Student attitudes and level of satisfaction with the two methods of course delivery did not vary significantly.

Introduction

Online courses are an important and growing part of higher education. Proponents of online education note that computer technology has provided opportunities for learning that were previously unavailable to those not well served by traditional brick-and-mortar universities. Opponents see online courses as a fringe activity and worry that technology is guiding pedagogy (Peterson, 2001). Whatever one's position, the fact is that the distinction between the traditional classroom and online instruction will continue to blur as traditional classes add online components and online courses gain mainstream respectability. In this climate, investigations aiming to uncover individual, situational and institutional factors that influence student performance and satisfaction in new learning environments will become increasingly important.

Despite numerous studies on distance education in general and web-based learning in particular, the research centered on comparisons between traditional and online instruction is in its infancy. Much of the existing work focuses on student experiences in the online condition and tends to avoid direct comparisons with analogous traditional learning environments (Huang, 2002; Teh, 1999). Another set of studies in this area focuses on the instructors' experiences. Smith, Ferguson and Caris (2001) interviewed 21 online instructors with the goal of describing the faculty members' perspective. They found that online classes are not necessarily alienating experiences for students, but provide intellectually stimulating forums which create a sense of equality between professor and student. Wang and Newlin (2002) used their experience as instructors of web-based psychology classes to offer useful advice to online educators about identifying and helping low-performing cyber-students. They suggest course assessment quizzes, cyber-study groups and heightened social presence by the instructor as techniques for assisting online students.

In one experimental investigation Schulman and Sims (1999) set out to extend the earlier work of Schutte (1996) by comparing pre- and post-test scores of students in online and traditional classes. Their results, however, were inconsistent with the work they replicated. While Schutte found online students performed significantly better than their in-class counterparts, Schulman and Sims concluded that the learning of the two groups of students in their sample was equal. Schutte notes that his online students' frustration with their inability to ask questions in a face-to-face environment led them to form study groups, which may have contributed to their higher test scores; there is no evidence of heightened student-to-student interaction among the online students in the Schulman and Sims study.

MacGregor (2001) also compared students in online and traditional classes. Using...

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