Student Preference Of Instructional Delivery example essay topic

EFFECTIVENESS OF ONLINE INSTRUCTIONAL DELIVERY VERSUS TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM DELIVERY IN COLLEGE COURSES In the past years education has witnessed a boom in regards to the acceleration of technology use in the classroom. Along with the rise of internet use in traditional classroom instruction, the rise of online classroom instruction has become a necessity when trying to keep up with the demands of student learning in the technology age. Education today finds itself faced with the challenge of maintaining emphasis on student learning it terms of knowledge, competencies and skills in their curriculum all while competing for student enrollment in the on line instructional classroom model. Educators need to determine if the levels of learning in an online classroom are as effective as in the traditional classroom setting. In the study by Schulman and Sims (1999) they assess as more and more online courses and programs proliferate, the question of quality and comparability of such instruction with traditional methods naturally arise. There are many studies on the impact of technology on student learning that use survey and interviews to gather qualitative data on the self reported attitudes from student and teachers to make value judgment on the technological advancements in on line instruction.

As T.H.E. Journal, unknown author, reported to date the most methodologically sound investigation to evaluate effectiveness of online instruction was conducted by Gerald Schutte at Cal State. In his study Schutte randomly divided his statistics class into two groups. The controlled class attending class regularly, listened to lecture, handed in homework assignments and took examinations. The experimental group took an online version and met with professor by chat, completed assignments by internet and email, and only attended class to take the mid term and final exams.

Dr. Schutte result found that the wired students outscored their traditional student counter parts by an average of 20 percent. It would seem as this study indicates that the internet instructional classroom seems to fair better, but research suggest that conflicting conclusions of effectiveness by method of delivery, by course or subject area, by student preference, and by the level of computer literacy suggesting that some courses might be more suitable for on line instruction than others. The purpose of this study is to evaluate effectiveness of teaching a traditional classroom instruction compared to an on line instructional environment. In a research study on accounting majors and the use of online instruction compared to traditional instruction (Basile and D'Aquila 2002) technology was found to be a key concept in the core competencies that accounting graduates will need to become accounting professionals. Basille and D'aquila (2002) go on to include that internet is one form of technology that has become a major resource for education. In fact certain colleges and degrees are now offered entirely over the internet because of its accessibility and flexibility in allowing students to access materials and course content.

Although findings in the report show that students feel educators have not gone far enough with the assignments and technological advancements that can be used with it. The study did find however that the apparent focus in technology as a form of pedagogy will continue to increase. Faux and Black-Hughes (2000) tested the effectiveness of using the internet as a primary teaching method in a Social Work History course to undergraduate students. The results indicated that student performed better on a posttest when taught through traditional lectures than when taught through the Internet concluded that using internet only instruction might not be the most effective way to teach students about social work.

These finding may have been skewed because of the small sample size (33) distributed over three methods of instructional delivery, the assignment to method by student choice, personality and learning style of social work majors and the high percentage of non-social work majors, precluding any inference to a population. Three commonly used methods of instruction in a traditional classroom (lecture, guided instruction, and collaborative discussion) were studied to determine their effectiveness by mode of delivery in an online instructional and traditional classroom environment of an Educational Technology course. No significant statistical difference was measured in learning performance by mode of delivery (Smith, Smith, & Boone, 2000). Student participation in collaborative discussion activity was higher among online instruction students, contradicting the preconception. Put here the article on cyber supervision...

Results from both studies suggest that face-to-face supervision is still a preferred modality, but online modalities may provide a reasonable alternative when face-to-face supervision is not a viable option. Cooper (2001) compared on line instruction and traditional in-class instruction in terms of student performance, measured by grade performance. A higher percentage of students made A's in the online class of Fundamentals of Computer Applications than in the traditional in-class section. With this on line course there was also a low drop out rate / withdrawal rate. This shows that with the right course, the right instructor, and the right student on line instruction can be effective. From the research there are no clear opinions on the effectiveness or value of student learning resulting from the use of traditional versus on line instruction.

Some possible confounding variables in the study are socioeconomic status, subject area, student preference of instructional delivery, geography, level of computer literacy. The purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of online instruction compared to traditional classroom settings. Specifically this report will address: (a) Final grades for on line classes in comparison to the traditional version of the same class; (b) attrition rates in an on line class compared to the same traditional classroom. Null Hypothesis: a) There is no difference in mean of test scores (midterm and value) by method of instructional delivery.

Null Hypothesis: b) There is no difference the mean attrition rates by method of instructional delivery. Methodology: 6 Classes will be picked to use in the study. Psychology, English Composition I, Statistics, American History, Computer Application for Business, Biology I. These courses were chosen for they can be used by all students seeking A.A., A.S., A.A.S. degrees. This eliminates the threat of sampling basis. The traditional classroom will consist of one daytime section and one night time section. All students will be required to be on all college level academics.

There will be no student who still will need to take or test out or a preparatory level class. Online students will have to have access to a computer either through home or school. They will also need an email address and they will be provided with free internet service while enrolled on the course. All sections will have the same instructor, use the same text, over the same materials, any changes are made they will be done so to the other classes, and follow the same syllabus.

Bibliography

Basille, A., & D'Aquila, J. (2002).
An experimental analysis of computer-mediated instruction and student attitudes in a principles of financial accounting class. Journal of Education for Busines, 7, 3,137-143. Retrieved July 7th from WilsonSelectPlusFT Cooper, L.W. (2001).
A comparison of online and traditional computer applications classes. T.H.E. Journal, 28, 52-60. Retrieved July 7th 2003 from first Search Database.
Faux, T.L., & Black-Hughes, C. (2000).