Online Learning Efficacy Research Database

With the proliferation of internet technology, the E-learning has become an essential method and new epitome that is widely used and implemented by educational institutions across the globe. The main objective of the current survey was to study the impact of E-learning on the students' academic performance. It was a facility-based and quasi-experimental research design that carried out in Najran University- college of nursing during the period from January to August, 2019. By adopting a purposive sampling technique, 80 under-graduate nursing students (40 experimental group + 40 as controls) that aged 21-24 years old had been recruited to participate in the current survey. Final exam results and a self-administered questionnaire were used for collecting data. The findings revealed that the mean scores obtained by students in the final exam by the E-learning group (Experimental) is statistically significantly higher than those for the traditional group (controls) (t=3.45, df=37, P value= 0.002). Additionally, the results showed that the mean of the students' overall satisfaction with the traditional face-to-face lectures in the control group was 6.26, while the mean of the students' overall satisfaction with E-learning in the experimental group was 8.74. The difference between students' attitudes was significant (P = 0.015) in favor of the experimental group. The key findings of the present study show a significant difference in learning outcomes beside positive attitudes between online and traditional learners which can be a viable alternative learning method for higher education. It also contributes to the current literature in the area of online instruction and E-learning 
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The laboratory has occupied an important place in the general chemistry curriculum for well over a century, despite the fact that many have voiced concern about its value and utility. In an effort to potentially increase capacity in our general chemistry courses, we developed and implemented a hybrid laboratory curriculum that consisted of alternating face-to-face and virtual laboratory experiments. This study sought to better understand the impact that this hybrid approach had on students’ cognitive, affective, and psychomotor learning. The results suggest that students taught using the hybrid approach developed similar cognitive and psychomotor skills in comparison to students taught using a traditional laboratory curriculum; however, their affective outlook toward chemistry was significantly lower 
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While the equivalence between online and traditional classrooms has been well researched, very little effort has been expended to do such comparisons for college level introductory chemistry. The existing literature has only one study that investigated chemistry lectures at an entire course level as opposed to particular course components such as individual topics or exams. Regarding lab courses, only one study is available and it involves moderating variables that are largely uncontrolled. In this work, we compared the student pass rates, withdrawal rates, and grade distributions between asynchronous online and traditional formats of an introductory chemistry lecture as well as its associated lab course. The study was based on the 823 university records available for the 2015–2016 academic year. Student pass and withdrawal rates between the two modes were quite similar and did not appear to be statistically significant. However, grade distributions for both the lecture and lab differed between the two learning modes, showing significant statistical associations. Online students were more likely to earn As in both lecture and lab while traditional in-person students were more likely to earn Cs or Ds. Further research should include replication of this study with a larger data set. Additionally, this study should be repeated in three to five years to determine if advances in course design, standardization and delivery platforms further reduce or eliminate differences between learning modes. Future studies should also use qualitative tools for a better understanding of why students fail or withdraw from courses. 
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Here, we describe the implementation a hybrid general chemistry teaching laboratory curriculum that replaces a portion of a course’s traditional “wet lab” experiences with online virtual lab modules. These modules intentionally utilize representations on all three levels of the chemistry triplet - macroscopic, submicroscopic, and symbolic. The implementation of this curriculum allowed an opportunity to evaluate this new course structure. First, student performance was assessed based on pre- and post-assessments. Second, dialogue from students working through the traditional and module versions of one lab was analyzed for how each format encouraged students to engage with the chemistry triplet. Data suggest both formats led to positive learning gains, but the differences between formats were not statistically significant. However, there was a significant difference in student engagement with the chemistry triplet, with module students showing a higher overall amount of triplet-related dialogue and more continuous dialogue segments connecting multiple levels of the triplet. 
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This paper examines the effectiveness of adding an online component to the general chemistry laboratory in which students view prelaboratory instructional materials through online videos prior to completing general chemistry laboratory activities. Using a quasi-experimental design, we compared the performance of 1089 general chemistry students who viewed online prelaboratory videos for two laboratory activities and attended face-to-face prelaboratory lectures for two additional laboratory activities. Students were assessed on their understanding of the rationale for specific laboratory procedures, their efficiency at completing each activity in the allotted time, and their help-seeking behavior during laboratory sessions. Students were more efficient and demonstrated a greater understanding of the rationale for procedures for the two laboratory activities that used online prelaboratory videos than those that used prelaboratory lectures. No differences were observed in help-seeking behavior between the two conditions. These results suggest that online prelecture videos have significant potential for improving student learning in the general chemistry laboratory and for reducing demand on institutional resources for associated courses. 
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The overall goal of this study was to evaluate student experiences in online laboratory courses in order to inform the design and improvement of lab activities in a distance education program. Students were surveyed about their satisfaction and perceptions of usability and learning in both hands-on (at home) and computer-based simulation (virtual) labs in a variety of natural science courses. We also attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of several online chemistry courses taught with either hands-on kits or virtual laboratory activities, and examined the performance of students concurrently enrolled in lecture and laboratory chemistry courses versus those enrolled in a lecture only courses. The majority of survey respondents felt their online laboratory experience was the same as or better than their prior experiences in the traditional setting. Survey data also show that students believe their laboratory experiences reinforced and improved their understanding of concepts presented in lectures and the textbook, and thus may have helped them perform better on course assessments. Our data on performance suggest that students enrolled in online science courses do as well or better than their peers enrolled in traditional courses. The data also suggest that students who take lecture and laboratory concurrently outperform their lecture-only peers, independent of course (i.e., general or organic chemistry) or delivery method (i.e., online or traditional).

The overall goal of this study was to evaluate student experiences in online laboratory courses in order to inform the design and
improvement of lab activities in a distance education program. Students were surveyed about their satisfaction and perceptions of
usability and learning in both hands-on (at home) and computer-based simulation (virtual) labs in a variety of natural science
courses. We also attempted to evaluate the effectiveness of several online chemistry courses taught with either hands-on kits or
virtual laboratory activities, and examined the performance of students concurrently enrolled in lecture and laboratory chemistry
courses versus those enrolled in a lecture only courses. The majority of survey respondents felt their online laboratory experience
was the same as or better than their prior experiences in the traditional setting. Survey data also show that students believe their
laboratory experiences reinforced and improved their understanding of concepts presented in lectures and the textbook, and thus
may have helped them perform better on course assessments. Our data on performance suggest that students enrolled in online
science courses do as well or better than their peers enrolled in traditional courses. The data also suggest that students who take
lecture and laboratory concurrently outperform their lecture-only peers, independent of course (i.e., general or organic chemistry)
or delivery method (i.e., online or traditional). 
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While online and face-to-face (F2F) courses have been compared in numerous studies, there has been a lack of focus on online chemistry courses. This study was conducted to compare the success of students instructed in an online or F2F general chemistry course for non-majors. One hundred forty six exam questions were categorized according to Bloom's revised taxonomy and student success on each problem was analyzed. Comparison of online and F2F courses showed significant differences at the lowest order of thinking, "remember," with online students performing better than F2F students. A similar result was seen with the next order of thinking, "understand," but there were no significant differences observed between online and F2F students for exam questions at the "analyze" level. The observed advantage for online students may be because online instruction promotes better memorization of facts or because students good at memorization gravitate towards online courses. No significant differences were seen between online and F2F courses when comparing the various chemistry topics covered in the exams. Online instruction appears to be as effective as F2F instruction when teaching introductory chemistry topics. 
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