Comparing Student Learning in Online and Classroom Formats of the Same Course COMPARING STUDENT LEARNING IN ONLINE AND CLASSROOM FORMATS OF THE SAME COURSE Robert E. Ledman Georgia Southwestern State University rledman@gsw.edu ABSTRACT This study examines student learning in two formats for the same course. Students in online sections and in-class sections were given the same assignments, test, and syllabus. The results reveal that test scores for students in online classes are not different from the students in the traditional in-class course sections. The online students overall had slightly lower final course grades, which can be mostly explained by participation. INTRODUCTION Online courses in colleges and universities and in professional development are proliferating. One can see promotions for degrees that can be gained from totally online formats in newspapers, magazines, and television commercials. As an instructor of online classes I am often asked if my online students really learn as much as those who are in a physical classroom. The answer to that question is not an easy one since there has been a paucity of research that directly compares student learning in courses offered in the different formats. A number of studies have examined how online learning is influenced by instructor, environment and student characteristics (Aragon, 2003; Bibeau, 2001; Lally & Barrett, 1999, Muilenberg & Berge, 2001; Perreault, Waldman, & Zhao, 2002; Stodel, Thompson, & MacDonald, 2006)). A review of education literature will provide an abundance of studies related to improving online course delivery as well. Allen, Bourhis, Burrell and Mabry (2002) performed a meta-analysis comparing student satisfaction with distance education formats to traditional classroom formats and found that students prefer, by a small difference, the traditional format but that satisfaction was no different. Neuhauser (2002) compared students in an asynchronous online section of a principles of management course to those in a traditional face-to-face (f2f) classroom. She found no significant differences in test scores or final course grades. This study replicates some characteristics of her study in that the students self-selected online or f2f section and all assignments and tests were the same in both sections. This study was conducted in a strategic management that requires teams to perform case analyses, turn in written reports of those analyses and give a presentation. There was also one test given. The purpose of this study was to replicate Neuhauser’s results in a different kind of course and to confirm that online case format courses will result in students achieving similar levels of learning to those in a traditional f2f class. METHODOLOGY Students enrolled in a senior capstone strategic management course over one academic year were the source of the data used. One course each term was taught in a f2f format and another section was taught online by the same professor. The same syllabus was used in both sections with the same assignments and the same test. The test format was identical for both sections as well. The only difference in the two sections was the presentation. The f2f students gave oral presentation while the online students made online presentations of their case analyses. The course grade was based on the exam grade and the case analysis (3) grades and individual participation grades. The case analysis grades were partly based on the quality of the presentation. Both classes had traditional (those who matriculated straight from high school) and non-traditional students. Sample sizes 60 for the f2f classes and 67 for the online classes. Test scores and final grades were used to test the following hypotheses. 1. Test grades for students in the online class will not be significantly different that those of the f2f class. 2. Final course grades will not be significantly different for the two classes. RESULTS The mean test scores and final grades were compared using t tests. The mean test score for the f2f classes was 57.6 and the mean for the online classes was 57.1. These results support hypothesis 1. The means are so close they are essentially equal. Unlike Neuhauser’s (2002) results, the online students in this sample performed very slightly worse on the exam. The final class grades showed slightly more difference for the two groups. The f2f classes had a final grade average of 78.33 whereas the online students’ average was 76.1. This difference is almost large enough to reject hypothesis 2 with the p value being .07. Visual review of the data suggests the difference in the grades for the two groups is primarily due to participation grades. The author is currently exploring the lower class participation levels of online students since that is counter to anecdotal evidence from colleagues. Table one gives a summary of the results. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 35, 2008 351 mailto:rledman@gsw.edu Table 1 T test Results Class Exam Average Course Grade Average Sample Size Online 57.1 76.1 67 Face-to-face 57.6 78.33 61 DISCUSSION The direct comparison of students enrolled in the two difference formats of the same course is one way to address the primary purpose of this study to find out if students enrolled in online classes learn as much as students in face- to-face classes. In this study the two samples were treated the same by the faculty member in terms of assignments, exams, and other course requirements. There is a great deal of room to examine and debate the merits of online classes when, as is frequently the case in the authors institution, the online class is held to different standards or grading schema. This study confirms what Neuhauser (2002) found in her study with the difference that in this study the online students performed slightly less well. The results here are also consistent with Allen, et. al., (2002) whose meta- analysis concluded that there is no significant difference in student performance in online and face-to-face course formats. This study provides further evidence to support the conclusion that online pedagogical methods can be as effective as a traditional classroom approach. One note that bears repeating is that Neuhauser (2002) and this author made deliberate efforts to make the courses delivered as similar as the methodologies would allow. That approach may or may not be the only one that will yield similar results. Clearly further study is necessary that compares simultaneous course delivery with the same requirements of students. The author is continuing to collect data, including data from different courses with different pedagogical approaches that are not case focused. REFERENCES Allen, M., Bourhis, J., Burrell, N., & Mabry, E. (2002). Gomparing student satisfaction with distance education to traditional classrooms in higher education: A metaranaiysis. American Journal of Distance Education, 76(2), 83-97. Aragon, S. R. (2003). Creating social presence in online environments. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 100, 57-68. Bibeau, S. (2001). Social presence, isolation, and connectedness in online teaching and learning. From the literature to real life. Journal of Instruction Delivery Systems, 15{3), 35-39. Lally, V, & Barrett, E. (1999). Building a learning community online: Towards socio-academic interaction. Research Papers in Education, I4{2), 147- 163. Muilenburg, L., & Berge, Z. L. (2001). Barriers to distance education: A factor analytic study. American Journal of Distance Education, 15(2), 7-22. Neuhauser, C. (2002). Learning style and effectiveness of online and face-to-face instruction. American Journal of Distance Education, 76(2), 99-113. O'Dwyer, Laura M.; Carey, Rebecca; Kleiman, Glenn. A Study of the Effectiveness of the Louisiana Algebra I Online Course. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 39(3), p289-306. Perreault, H., Waldman, L., & Zhao, M. A. J. (2002). Overcoming barriers to successful delivery of distance learning courses. Journal of Education for Business, 77(6), 313-318. Stodel, E.J., Thompson, T.L. & MacDonald, C.J. (2006). Learners' perspectives on what is missing from online learning: Interpretations through the community of inquiry framework. The International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 7(3). Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning, Volume 35, 2008 352 http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/viewarticle?data=dGJyMPPp44rp2%2fdV0%2bnjisfk5Ie43fGPr6TreefkrH3m5fGMvqevR6%2btrUquprU4r6e4SbawsUmexss%2b8ujfhvHX4Yzn5eyB4rOvSq6ss1C3qLdOpOLfhuWz44ak2uBV4%2bjne6Tq33%2b7t8w%2b3%2bS7XcittFC2rrA%2b5OXwhd%2fqu37z4uqM4%2b7y&hid=5 http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/viewarticle?data=dGJyMPPp44rp2%2fdV0%2bnjisfk5Ie43fGPr6TreefkrH3m5fGMvqevR6%2btrUquprU4r6e4SbawsUmexss%2b8ujfhvHX4Yzn5eyB4rOvSq6ss1C3qLdOpOLfhuWz44ak2uBV4%2bjne6Tq33%2b7t8w%2b3%2bS7XcittFC2rrA%2b5OXwhd%2fqu37z4uqM4%2b7y&hid=5 http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/viewarticle?data=dGJyMPPp44rp2%2fdV0%2bnjisfk5Ie43fGPr6TreefkrH3m5fGMvqevR6%2btrUquprU4r6e4SbawsUmexss%2b8ujfhvHX4Yzn5eyB4rOvSq6ss1C3qLdOpOLfhuWz44ak2uBV4%2bjne6Tq33%2b7t8w%2b3%2bS7XcittFC2rrA%2b5OXwhd%2fqu37z4uqM4%2b7y&hid=5 Table of Contents Volume 35, 2008 Linking Team Covenants To Peer Assessment Of Simulation And Experiential Performance Using the Balance Scorecard Approach: A Group Exercise IndoAmerican Enterprises Class Size and Game Design Implementation Of Effective Experiential Learning Environments Simulation Sensemaking: The BusinessWeek Approach To Effective Debriefing A Lesson in Hide-And-Go-Seek: A Team Building Game Thoughts On How To Motivate Students Experientially Experiential Learning Is Not Just Experiential Teaching: Measurement of Student Skill Acquisition via Assessment Centers ABSEL Redux: Reflections after a 25 Year Hiatus College Student's Expectations of Technology- Enhanced Classrooms: Comparing 1996 and 2006 The Business Student Satisfaction Inventory (BSSI): Development and Validation of a Global Measure of Student Satisfaction The "Big Picture Question" Project: Explorations in Teaching Creativity within a Force-Field Research Framework "Viva Voce": Oral Exams as a Teaching & Learning Experience Internships And Occupational Socialization: What Are Students Learning? Does Learning Occur in One-Shot, Non-Cooperative Games? Beliefs and Behavior, an Ancient Perspective and Modern Application Developing Enterprise Culture Among the Students Through Intercollegiate Competitions: A Case of Student Enterprise Competition (SEC) 2007 Student Views of Management Skills and Their Future Careers after Using Business Simulations Back to the Future: Gender Differences In Self-Ratings of Team Performance Criteria A Case for Experiential Learning: Using Central Europe as a Classroom Modeling Strategic Opportunities in Product-Mix Strategy: A Customer- Versus Product-Oriented Perspective Assessment in the Modern Large High-Tech Classroom Target Profit Pricing With the Web-Based Breakeven Analysis Package Are the Business Simulations We Play Too Complex? Shared Experience as Incentive for Horizontal Integration in Business Simulations Affinity Propagation: A Clustering Algorithm for Computer-Assisted Business Simulations and Experiential Exercises Marketing Simulation Results as Embedded Forms of Program Assessment Human and Agent Playing the "Beer Game" Issues in Porting a LAN-based Total Enterprise Simulation Game to a Web-based Environment Partners or Competitors? A B2B Simulation Evaluation Model of the Global Performance of a Management Simulation for the Academic Environment Applying Bloom's Revised Taxonomy In Business Games Do Price Strategies Work in Business Simulations? Early Japanese Gaming Simulation Efforts Using Par Players to Enhance Learning in Business Simulations Corporate Cartooning: The Art of Computerized Business Simulation Design Should Business Game Players Choose Their Teammates: A Study with Pedagogical Implications Goal Orientation and Simulation Performance Design and Demonstration of an Online Managerial Economics Game with Automated Coaching For Learning and Graded Exercises for Assessment Are Good Strategy Decisions Consistently Good? A Real-Time Investigation Active Learning 2.0 or Wiki is not a 4-letter Word Comparing Student Learning in Online and Classroom Formats of the Same Course How Do We Get To Tomorrow? The Path to Online Learning Similar Media Attributes Lead to Similar Learning Outcomes Facilitating Business Gaming Simulation Modeling