Online Technical Courses To Classroom example essay topic

Abstract As the Internet becomes increasingly popular, so do online classes. Last year alone, there was a 13% increase in registration for distance learning classes throughout the public university system. (Beverly Creamer, 2003) It is now possible for people to learn conveniently from home or office. People that want to go to school can do so now because scheduling and geographic location does not matter with online classes because the class course is brought to the student rather than the student to the course. Is distance learning as effective as classroom based courses? This study will compare questions asked to students that have taken both online and classroom-based courses to determine the effectiveness of online courses in relation to classroom-based courses.

There will be two types of comparisons, those of the exact same course and those of similar courses. Problem The main problem is that no measuring system exists to compare online technical courses to classroom based technical courses at Central Connecticut State University. Sub Problems 1. There is a difference in Gas? 2.

Which style course shows the higher grades? 3. Is there a meaningful correlation? 4. How can the difference be measured?

5. How do students feel about online and classroom-based courses? 6. Would they take an online course again? Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine if online technical courses are as effective as traditional classroom based courses offered at Central Connecticut State University. The outcome can be used as a basis to be applied to other schools or universities.

Strategy Using a quantitative approach the answers to selected Class Survey questions will be compared for both online and classroom based courses. Old Questions refers to questions already on the course evaluation questionnaire. New Questions refers to questions that will be added to the course evaluation questionnaire for online classes. 5 Old Questions for Online Class Survey 1. Has this course been intellectually stimulating? 2.

Would you rate the overall quality of this course as high? 3. What is your age? A. 19 or under B. 20-24 C. 25-29 D. 30 or over 4. Are you registered as a part time or full-time student? 5. What is your approximate GPA for the course?

5 New Questions for Online Class Survey 1. Is this your first online course? 2. Compared to a classroom-based course, was this course more or less difficult?

3. Compared to a classroom-based course, was the experience better or worse? 4. Compared to a classroom-based course, would you rate the quality of this course better or worse? 5. Would you take another online courses or recommend online courses to peers?

To maintain commonality between course curriculum's and to have an accurate base line for comparing online verses classroom based course, a few details need special attention. First the same textbook should be used. This will ensure that the foundation for the course work will be the same. Similar students should also be used, if possible.

This is so that engineering graduate students are compared to engineering graduate students instead of freshman art major students. Lastly one teacher should teach both the online and classroom based course. Keeping these three details common among courses means the only difference is the course delivery method. The course delivery method is what is to be studied. Possible Results There are a few possible outcomes.

Students could either believe that online courses are better or worse than conventional classroom based courses. Students may get more out of an online course, as it would be more straightforward. There would be less chance of digressing from the course topic since the session structure has already been prepared. Since there is no direct person to person communication, the direction of the course session can not change, as it is possible in an open discussion. The student can also pick when to work on the class. The student will learn more and get more out of the class if he is in the mood to learn.

Classroom based courses have set times where the student or even the teacher may not feel ready to learn or teach. Other students may not enjoy the fact that there is no open discussion. With an online course setting some students may find it difficult to stay focused on or involved with the material. These students may find the course extremely boring and dry, which would lead to not absorbing the material and therefore not getting what they want out of the class.

Methodology To compare courses delivered online to courses delivered in the classroom a questionnaire will be given to students completing each course. The questions on the questionnaire are stated in the Strategy section of this paper. The answers to these questions will then be compared. Findings Comparing one online course to one classroom based course will not provide sufficient data to make and accurate conclusion.

Many semesters of course questionnaires will be needed. Feedback from the first questionnaire will serve 2 purposes. First it will give a baseline for each course and also a preliminary comparison of online verses classroom based classes. Second it will identify if any questions need to be added, removed or modified. Summary and Conclusions The data collected from the course questionnaires will be the foundation of creating a measuring system to compare the effectiveness of an online course to a classroom based course. There is no mistake that online courses are more convenient for students due to the fact that they can be attended anytime and anywhere.

Universities and students must realize that this convenience may come with a hefty price tag if the effectiveness of the course is less than that of a classroom based course. Students should not want to take a course that is delivered in a sub satisfactory way. The university must be weary of the fact that the schools reputation may be tarnished if students are not learning while attending courses at that university.

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