Online Learning Efficacy Research Database

Both large lectures and online formats are encouraged as viable options for the delivery of course material in higher education today, especially in large general education courses. However, how do such delivery formats impact student learning? In an effort to understand how lecture format impacts cognitive learning, this study investigated how the delivery format impacts the actual and perceived cognitive learning of students in a basic communication course in a midsized Midwestern university. Using one-way between-subjects ANOVA, earned exam grades, coded written reflections, and scores from a cognitive learning perception scale were compared across online, hybrid, and face-
to-face lecture delivery formats. As predicted, no significant differences on any of the dependent variables were identified, indicating a lack of influence of delivery format on actual or perceived levels of cognitive learning. However, aspects of teacher immediacy, student learning preferences, and degree of interaction in recitation sections is discussed, along with implications for future research. 
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While educators and librarians have long been concerned with developing undergraduates’ ability to find credible sources, the abundance of unreliable information online has exponentially complicated the situation. In developing a new curriculum for English Composition 1001 classes, a first-year writing class at the University of Cincinnati, we developed new ways of engaging with student experiences before and beyond the class sessions to address source analysis through active peer learning. Using an action research framework to position ourselves as both practitioners and researchers, we considered our own practice as teachers as much as student outcomes. We compared the use of flipped content with in-class instruction. By capturing students’ research process through pre-class and post-class surveys, we could better understand the online ecosystem they must navigate and help them reflect critically on their progress. Our analysis of student survey responses allowed us to measure progress in three areas: source quality, search strategy, and topic relevance. Flipped class activities had the same result on student behavior as did in-class delivery. 
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Midwives and general practice nurses are ideally positioned to provide nutrition education to pregnant women. However, it appears that they do not receive sufficient nutrition training to enable them to fulfil this role. This study aimed to develop, implement and evaluate a suite of learning resources developed specifically for midwives, general practice nurses and student nurses. A four-module suite of learning resources was developed based on recommendations in the Australian Antenatal Care Clinical Guidelines as well as formative evaluation with stakeholders. The feasibility of these modules was tested using a pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design with three arms using convenient sampling (face-to-face with midwives; online with student nurses; and online with midwives, nurses and practice nurses). Completion rates across the three study arms were poor (n=40 participants in total). For the combined data, there was a significant increase in knowledge scores across all modules from the pretest score (median (IQR): 3.46 (2.09–4.13)) to the post-test score (5.66 (4.66–6.00)) (p<0.001). Studies of high quality are required to determine if changing the nutrition knowledge and confidence in delivering nutrition care of health professionals results in sustainable changes to their clinical practice. 
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Assembling and curating specimen collections is a valuable educational exercise that integrates subject-specific skills such as field collection, curation, identification, organization, and interpretation of relationships. Collection projects have been used primarily in face-to-face classes, but they can be readily adapted for distance education. The primary challenges to using collection projects in distance education center on two concerns: (1) whether distance students learn as much as their face-to-face peers and (2) whether academic dishonesty occurs more often in distance education than face to face. This study addressed both concerns by assessing learning outcomes in two entomology courses with both face-to-face and distance sections and evaluating the frequency of specimen-based plagiarism (submitting specimens collected by someone else). An ungraded survey testing students’ insect identification knowledge found equivalent learning outcomes in face-to-face and distance classes. Insect collections were monitored for plagiarized (resubmitted or purchased) specimens in a 5-year “mark-release-recapture’ investigation. Academic dishonesty was detected in fewer than 2% of collections; cheating was more than 12 times more likely in distance than in face-to-face classes. This study’s findings raise the possibility that distance learning assessments can be artificially inflated by cheating, suggesting that evaluations of distance learning should be considered in light of academic dishonesty. These results highlight the benefits and challenges of collections as teaching tools in distance education and underscore the need for instructors to be vigilant about academic integrity. 
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Objective
Online education is effective for knowledge acquisition, but its effect on clinical skill development is not well characterized. Weaimed to compare communication skills of 50 first-year medical students who learned to assess and treat patients through an online learning module vs an in-class lecture.
Methods
Twenty-six students were randomized to learn about antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction in class and 24 learned the same content through an online module. Students were individually observed conducting an interview with a standardized patient with antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction. Students were assessed by faculty raters blinded to the student’s learning mode. Standardized patients were asked about their willingness to have the student as their physician.
Results
More students who learned in class vs online demonstrated appropriate verbal empathy (18 [69%] vs 8 [33%]; P = 0.01), defined as completing each task in the “verbal empathy” assessment domain, as measured by a faculty rater. Other assessed variables were not significantly different. Standardized patients’ willingness (vs unwillingness; P = 0.01) to have the student as their physician was associated with the demonstration (by faculty appraisal) of a number of basic skills: using open-ended questions, asking one question at a time, using gender-neutral terminology when asking about the patient’s relationship, and using appropriate sexual-health terminology.
Conclusions
This study, although limited by a single-site design and the small number of participants, offers preliminary evidence that, if confirmed, may suggest that in-class learning from a psychiatrist (vs from an online module) is associated with greater verbal empathy in the assessment of SSRI-related sexual dysfunction 
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A growing number of students are now opting for online classes. They find the traditional classroom modality restrictive, inflexible, and impractical. In this age of technological advancement, schools can now provide effective classroom teaching via the Web. This shift in pedagogical medium is forcing academic institutions to rethink how they want to deliver their course content. The overarching purpose of this research was to determine which teaching method proved more effective over the 8-year period. The scores of 548 students, 401 traditional students and 147 online students, in an environmental science class were used to determine which instructional modality generated better student performance. In addition to the overarching objective, we also examined score variabilities between genders and classifications to determine if teaching modality had a greater impact on specific groups. No significant difference in student performance between online and face-to-face (F2F) learners overall, with respect to gender, or with respect to class rank were found. These data demonstrate the ability to similarly translate environmental science concepts for non-STEM majors in both traditional and online platforms irrespective of gender or class rank. A potential exists for increasing the number of non-STEM majors engaged in citizen science using the flexibility of online learning to teach environmental science core concepts. 
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Flipped classroom models allocate more time for active learning approaches compared with more traditional pedagogies, however what is less clear with the utilisation of flipped learning is evidence to support whether students in flipped classes are given more opportunities to develop higher order thinking skills (HOTs) to effect deep learning compared with the traditional ways of teaching. Focussing on this gap, this study compares on campus and off campus student engagement in two courses using different deliveries: online face-to-face (f2f) mixed mode (on campus students attend traditional f2f on campus classes and off campus students study exclusively online) versus fully online mode, utilising flipped classes (all student study off campus engaging in flipped virtual classes). Final course grades were similar for both deliveries; however, the study suggests flipped classes offered students more opportunities to develop HOTs and engage more deeply in the learning process. Students’ evaluations of the online flipped delivery were mixed, with those students previously enrolled exclusively as on campus, particularly dissatisfied with fully online delivery and virtual class tutor experience. Recommendations are made concerning both the timing of the introduction of fully online delivery in a program and the need for continual up-skilling of staff who teach in online environments. 
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Education researchers have conducted studies on the relationship of learning mode to student performance, but few studies have evaluated pass rate, grade distribution and student withdrawal rate in an introductory research methods course. In this study, researchers examined 2,097 student grades from the 2015-2016 academic year to determine if such a relationship existed. In this study, learning mode was significantly related to failure rate, grade distribution and withdraw rate. Synchronous video home students had a significantly higher failure rate than traditional In-Person or online students. Online student grade distributions were significantly different than In-Person classroom, synchronous video home or synchronous video classroom students. Online Students tended to earn more "A"s and fewer "B"s and "D"s. Synchronous video home students also had a significantly higher withdraw rate than synchronous video classroom students. Recommendations for further research include investigating variables which may impact student performance such as faculty experience with course content and technology and how students select learning modes when taking classes. Future research should continue to employ outcome-based studies to measure the impact of learning mode on student performance. This remains a key issue from the perspective of the students and the institution. 
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Purpose – This paper aims to compare the students enrolled to a three-year undergraduate, bachelor degree on Security of Computer Systems and Networks, offered in traditional, classroom fashion as well as online at the University of Milan (Italy). Its main purposes are to estimate the main characteristics of the two different student populations addressed (i.e. online vs classroom students) to understand if an online version of an already existing traditional university degree allows to extend the enrollment of students; and to evaluate the effectiveness of the e-learning approach adopted, comparing performance of the two student populations. The study aims to supply a significant case study, based on a real experience more than 10 years long.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on the statistical interpretation of a huge amount of data, collected during the overall life of Sicurezza dei Sistemi e delle Reti Informatiche (SSRI) online, regarding student age, income, grades obtained in exams and after final dissertation and graduation time.
Findings – The paper allows to conclude that the online student population has very limited overlap with the classroom one, which means that the online version of an already existing degree can definitely enlarge the student enrollment and reach older students; and a carefully designed e-learning environment allows committed online students to obtain results comparable when not better than the ones of classroom students.
Research limitations/implications – The study refers to a single, specific degree in computer science and technology; thus, it may lack generalizability. Similar experiences in other areas could be useful.
Originality/value – This paper fulfills an identified. 
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This study aimed at investigating the effect of Blended Method (online and offline teaching and learning) and Traditional Method (offline teaching and learning), as the comparison, on students’ reading achievement. There were 200 college students involved in this study. Half of them were taught through a blended teaching method and half of them were taught through a traditional teaching method. The data were taken from the students’ final scores in the lectures which included scores of assignment, quiz, mid-term test, and final term test. The final scores of the two groups were compared to find out the effect of the blended teaching method and the traditional teaching method. The result showed that the scores of students who were taught through Blended Method were significantly better than the scores of students who were taught through Traditional Method. It indicates that utilizing new methods while maintaining good aspects of pre-existing methods has a positive impact on students’ achievement. 
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