Online Learning Efficacy Research Database

This article examines the effect of blended learning on adult learners' academic success. Using a large administrative data set we test the impact of introducing a blended learning format within the first year of a business education curriculum on course persistence and performance. Our difference-in-difference research design minimizes the potential bias resulting from the selectivity of learners enrolled in blended programmes. We find out that blended learning improves exam results. Although we observe a negative effect on the course persistence of adult learners (increased drop-out due to blended learning), the overall effect on course pass rates remains positive. Implications for practice and follow-up studies are discussed. 
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With the dramatic increase of online business degree programs, the question of the effectiveness of online courses has been front and center. Do these once primarily face-to-face courses successfully transfer to online-only formats without losing student productivity? Do the new formats still reach students, and is it reflected in final grades? Research was focused on evaluating the efficacy, measured by student performance, of undergraduate business statistics courses taught online classes, as compared to traditional, face-to-face classes and web- enhanced courses. Are there differences in how male and female students perform in both class formats?

Performance in the classroom is traditionally measured by the grades, namely the final grade. This study looked at the impact of online learning facilities in a course with traditionally difficult content for undergraduates with regard to gender. Results found that students overall performed better in face-to-face business statistics courses than in online. When gender was analyzed, the final grade for female students were significantly decreased from face-to-face to online courses, as compared to male students, whose grades were not significantly different in the two course formats. 
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Web-augmented traditional lecture, fully online, and flipped sections, all taught by the same instructor with the same course schedule, assignments, and exams in the same semester, were compared with regards to student attitudes; statistical reasoning; performance on common exams, homework, and projects; and perceptions of the course and instructor. The Survey of Attitudes Toward Statistics-36 (SATS-36) instrument and eight questions from the Statistical Reasoning Assessment (SRA) were given both at the beginning and end of the semester to measure change. The students selected their own sections, but the students in the sections were similar demographically, with similar pre-course college grade point averages. The SATS-36 showed increases in affect, cognitive competence, and perceived easiness and decreases in value, interest, and effort from beginning to end of the semester for all sections. Only affect and perceived easiness showed any differences for section, with traditional higher than online on average for both. Results from the SRA questions showed an increase in correct statistical reasoning skills and decrease in misconceptions for all sections over the semester. Traditional students scored higher on average on all three exams, but there were no significant differences between sections on homework, the project, or on university evaluations of the course or instructor. Results are contextualized with prior educational research on course modalities, and proposals for future research are provided. 
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The development of education technology and education teaching strategies and approaches affected students learning and teachers teaching strategies, blended learning approach has developed through the last two decades, however it is not a preference for many teachers and students, the researcher of this study used the quantitative experimental method. The sample of this study was two sections (30 students each) of female students at College of Science & Arts Muhayil who were studying Basic English Course as university general requirement. One group was taught using the traditional approach, the second group was taught using the blended learning approach for eight weeks. The instrument for the study was a test which was taken at the end of the 8th week, and the test was analyzed using t- test value to find the effect of blended learning on students learning outcome, the analysis showed that there is a positive impact on students learning outcome for those who were taught by blended learning approach compared to those who were taught by traditional approach. The researcher of this study recommended making use of any means of technology available in teaching to support teaching performance and to have best desired learning outcome. 
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As broadband internet access and LMS technology are rapidly expanding, and ICT is becoming a part of the teacher education curriculum, online learning is growing in all parts of the world in order to open education to everyone. Online collaborative work can bring specialists to every class, connect between students in different countries and from different cultures and adapt learning to the flat world. This research compares blended and online models of teaching in two versions of the same course at a teacher college in Israel. Each learning activity in class in the blended model has become an online activity in the online course. What is the contribution of an online course to students as compared with the contribution of a blended version of the same course? An achievement test, questionnaires, course products, interviews and statistic tools assisted to measure, investigate and estimate the contribution of each model to the development of students’ skills, and the advantages and disadvantages of each model. Results indicated that an online course, which uses state-of-the-art ICT and major pedagogical considerations in organizing its online learning activities, has the potential to create meaningful learning. 
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This paper assesses quantitatively the impact on student performance of a blended learning experiment within a large undergraduate first-year course in statistics for business and economics students. We employ a difference-in-differences method, which controls for differences in student characteristics and course delivery method, to evaluate the impact of blended learning on student performance. Our results suggest that the impact of blended learning on student performance depends on whether the effect of blended learning is cumulative or not. Blended learning has no impact on student performance if learning is non-cumulative and only affects the performance on the quizzes associated with the material covered by blended learning. However, if learning is cumulative and impacts the performance for the whole course, then our results strongly suggest a strong, negative effect. Taken as a whole, these results provide a possible explanation for why most of the existing studies focusing on short online courses have obtained neutral or even positive results while nearly all the studies focusing on semester-length course tend to observe negative impacts from online learning. 
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This article has two main objectives. First, we describe the design of an e-learning system for a University Income Tax Law course. Second, we analyze and explore learning results in terms of students’ learning satisfaction and learning achievement. Learning achievement was examined by questions derived from the course content while learning satisfaction was analyzed based on an adaptation of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM).

Results indicate that neither gender nor the school system affect students’ e-learning system satisfaction. Since students’ knowledge and exposure to computers are equal regardless of gender or educational background this reduces the significance of both these variables. Participating samples are divided into three groups: traditional, fully on-line and blended learning. We find, however, a statistically significant difference existed in learning achievement among groups. The blended learning group, combining on- line learning with paper-and-pencil testing, has the best learning achievement among the three groups. 
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Purpose – The purpose of this research is to find out the effectiveness of blended learning which uses student-centered approach as compared to teacher-centered approach on a university's fundamental subject - Principles of Marketing. Colis and Moonen (2001) argue that the blended learning is a hybrid of traditional face-to-face and online learning. Thus, while the teacher–centered approach focuses on traditional lecture method using one-way communication, the student-centered approach combines many flipped-class techniques such as online modules, group discussion, exercise, presentation, quizzes and games. As the global education system has moved toward self-learning, all education institutions especially at tertiary level have started engaging with the blended-learning activities. Thus, a study to gauge the effectiveness of the blended learning is likely to be beneficial for universities.

Design / Methodology / Approach – Data of Principles of Marketing subject from three different classes at three different trimesters were gathered on this research. One class was conducted using teacher–centered learning whilst another two classes were using student–centered learning. At the end of the semester, students were required to complete a set of five questions Likert-type assessment adapted from Helms (2014) to obtain feedback on the class as well as to determine their preferences.

Findings – The result shows that the class with the blended learning produces better results as compared to the traditional learning. The number of students whom passed the exam has significantly increased, making the failure rate lower for the last two trimesters. Additionally, the number of students achieved higher grades has also increased.

Originality / Value – The student-centered learning is considerably a new concept of education in Malaysia, if not in all developing countries. While many other universities in the world have already promoted blended-learning, the stigma of education in Malaysia is still relying on teacher-centered approach as a means to produce better students. Since the new approach such as student-centered learning has been producing significant results, the concept of relying heavily on lecturers or instructors must be challenged. This research suggests that not only the student-centered learning produces better results but also favoured by students. 
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There has been a marked increase in the use of online learning over the past decade. There remains conflict in the current body of research on the efficacy of online versus face to face learning in these environments. One resolution of these issues is the hybrid learning option which is a combination of face-to-face classroom instruction with asynchronous online elements. The hybrid option has been gaining in popularity as it is capable of combining the advantages of traditional face-to-face and online learning environments. In this paper, we seek to evaluate the effectiveness of hybrid instructional programs by comparing the use of hybrid learning against traditional classroom instruction. End of term grades are used to measure student retention of course material and are compared across the two groups. We find that the final grades for the students in the hybrid situation were significantly greater than those earned in the traditional format, all other aspects of the course remaining the same. 
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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a blended delivery method in a large enrollment introductory nutrition course (n=400) offered to both on-campus and distance education students at a University in the western United States. In this blended class, half of the content (1.5 credits) was delivered in an instructor led synchronous format; the other half was delivered asynchronously in the online environment using Blackboard and enhanced with various instructional technologies. Student course evaluations and final grades were used to compare students' level of satisfaction with the course and performance across student groups (on-campus vs. distance education). The majority of students (80%) recommended that the course continue to be taught in the blended format. Both student satisfaction and performance were influenced by student group. On-campus students earned higher grades than did distance education students, although distance education students reported higher levels of satisfaction with the blended design. A blended delivery method may be a successful alternative approach to large enrollment traditionally lecture-based courses. Blended delivery of such classes may offer students greater flexibility and the option of smaller class sizes. 
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