Hi Everyone,

It shouldn’t surprise any of us that online education works for some and not for others (some and others being some students, faculty and curricula).  Also, we often assume that best practices are being utilized to promote learning regardless of the delivery format but we all know assumptions are dangerous.  To begin to peel away the onion of traditional vs online education we need to control our bias and apply sound research designs to the question. We need to assess specific learning outcomes in cohorts of students (science vs non-science students, freshman through seniors) using both traditional and online formats to deliver course content using recognized best practices for both formats.   If we do that I suspect we will find that the achievement of learning outcomes are impacted more by practices than formats.

Bill

William R. Proulx, Ph.D., R.D.

Associate Professor of Nutrition and Dietetics

Department of Human Ecology

205 D Human Ecology

SUNY College at Oneonta

Oneonta, New York 13820

607-436-2147

From: Teaching Breakfast List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Pence, Harry
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 8:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: online vs. traditional science courses

According to this article there is little difference between online learning and inclass learning for science classes.

http://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2012/10/22/study-little-difference-learning-online-and-class-science-courses#disqus_thread

Be sure you read the comments, which point out that this is a press release, not a summary of the study.  The students in the study who self selected for the online courses were better prepared academically than those who took the traditional course.  So the study is not really valid.  And someone who has read the study writes that,

For Chemistry, at least, the data apparently shows there is a difference. From the report: "Results show that cumulative GPAs, cumulative credit hours completed, and Chemistry grade are statistically significantly different for students in either online or traditional Chemistry classes. Online Chemistry students have on average higher cumulative credit hours completed and GPAs compared to Chemistry students in the physical classroom. Students completing Chemistry classes in the traditional format have statistically significant higher grades in these classes compared to students in online classes."

To summarize, students in the online chemistry course had more college experience and had previously done better academically than those in the traditional course, but despite this, the students in the traditional course did better. 

Moral:  Never trust press releases

Harry E. Pence

SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor Emeritus

SUNY Oneonta