Online Learning Efficacy Research Database

The following study contrasts the efficacy of online delivery relative to face-to-face delivery using an enrolment protocol that largely eliminates self-selection bias. Only a few previous studies even attempt to control for sample selection. The study utilizes random assignment of the registrants of a Principles of Macroeconomics class into two alternative venues: online and face-to-face. The same professor taught both sections with the same course objectives and exams. Both the change in student scores from the pre-test to the post-test and the student’s exam average are model led as a function of the course environment, the student’s SAT math score (or ACT equivalent), the student’s GPA prior to taking the course, the student’s gender and the student’s overall credit hours prior to taking the course. The pre- and post-test had both standardized and instructor-specific questions. Students in the face-to-face section have statistically significantly higher exam scores and statistically significantly greater improvement on the post-test instructor questions. There is no statistical difference in the improvement on the post-test overall nor in the improvement in the post-test standardized questions. These mixed results suggest that both course objectives and the mechanism used to assess the relative effectiveness of the two modes of education may play an important part in determining the relative effectiveness of alternative delivery methods. 
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The education community has conducted studies on failure rates and withdrawal rates between learning modalities in the past, but few studies have evaluated grade distribution between learning modes or focused specifically on English Composition. Using 2,919 student grades from the 2015 – 2016 academic year for an English Composition course, researchers examined failure rates, grade distribution, and withdrawal rates between In-Person learning, Online learning, and Synchronous video learning modes. In this study, learning modes and failure rates were related. Synchronous video modes of instruction had higher failure rates than traditional In-Person classes. Synchronous video classroom students failed at a higher rate than online students. Grade distributions showed significant differences based on learning mode. In-Person students earned more Bs and fewer Cs, Ds, and Fs than Online and synchronous video classroom students. In-Person students also withdrew at a significantly lower rate than online students. With these findings, we suggest that finding the root cause and alleviating the differences in student performance across learning modes should be a high priority for the educational community. 
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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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While the equivalence between online and traditional classrooms has been well-researched, very little of this includes college-level introductory Physics. Only one study explored Physics at the whole-class level rather than specific course components such as a single lab or a homework platform. In this work, we compared the failure rate, grade distribution, and withdrawal rates in an introductory undergraduate Physics course across several learning modes including traditional face-to-face instruction, synchronous video instruction, and online classes. Statistically significant differences were found for student failure rates, grade distribution, and withdrawal rates but yielded small effect sizes. Post-hoc pair-wise test was run to determine differences between learning modes. Online students had a significantly lower failure rate than students who took the class via synchronous video classroom. While statistically significant differences were found for grade distributions, the pair-wise comparison yielded no statistically significance differences between learning modes when using the more conservative Bonferroni correction in post-hoc testing. Finally, in this study, student withdrawal rates were lowest for students who took the class in person (in-person classroom and synchronous video classroom) than online. Students that persist in an online introductory Physics class are more likely to achieve an A than in other modes. However, the withdrawal rate is higher from online Physics courses. Further research is warranted to better understand the reasons for higher withdrawal rates in online courses. Finding the root cause to help eliminate differences in student performance across learning modes should remain a high priority for education researchers and the education community as a whole. 
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Less than optimal student success in gateway courses figures prominently in college noncompletion. Past findings suggest that U-Pace instruction holds promise for increasing student success. However, all published studies of U-Pace instruction were conducted in the gateway course context of introductory psychology. The objective of this research was to rigorously evaluate the efficacy of U-Pace instruction in introductory sociology and introductory political science for students at-risk for college noncompletion and students not at-risk. The findings from both randomized controlled trials indicate that regardless of risk status, U-Pace students outperformed their conventionally taught face-to-face counterparts earning a greater percentage of final grades of A or B and higher scores on a proctored cumulative assessment of learning, independent of final grades. The results not only confirm previous findings of greater academic success and greater learning associated with U-Pace instruction but also clearly demonstrate that U-Pace instruction produces greater learning and greater academic success. Further, the findings of this research reveal that these student outcomes generalize across courses in two disciplines for both students at-risk for college noncompletion and students not at-risk, providing strong support for the efficacy of U-Pace instruction. 
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This research seeks to identify the student behaviors and course design features that foster student learning in a quantitative business course, and seeks to determine if successful teaching and learning practices differ for on-campus and online learning environments. Hypotheses connecting measures of student effort, course structure, student engagement, student background characteristics and student learning are developed and tested. Course components intended to promote learner-content interaction were developed and incorporated. Individual assignments and interactive study modules were required in both the campus-based and online sections while student discussions were required for the online sections. The results suggest learner-content interaction has a positive impact on student learning while student effort, measured as amount of time spent studying, is either negatively related or not related to this outcome. Further analysis reveals that students’ perceptions of their performance ability mediate the relation between student effort and student learning. 
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The 21st century is considered to be the electronic age. This electronic age brings opportunities for new ways to deliver a lecture or a whole course in higher education. By offering courses online, universities are trying to reach the population of students that cannot attend classes on campus. Professors also utilize technology in a variety of ways to help them teach traditional classes. Valdosta State University (VSU) offers a variety of courses online including College Algebra (Math 1111). While we are trying to reach more students through the online courses, we should also examine the impact to student learning and success in College Algebra. In the fall 2016 and spring 2017 terms, VSU offered the first online sections of Math 1111 with 27 and 23 students, respectively. The course retention rate and the students’ performance on the departmental final exam for the treatment group, online section (OS), versus the control group, traditional section (TS) of 350 students, were compared. The OS had a statistically significant higher departmental final exam average, but there was no statistically significant difference in retention rate. 
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Abstract not available. 
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Utilization of technology in the teaching and learning process has brought a significant impact to the education sector. Technology offers educators and learners a new learning experience to encourage and enrich the teaching and learning process. The study used descriptive-correlation to know the effectiveness of the different learning environment through pretest and post-test and to determine the satisfaction rating of the respondents towards the different kinds of learning environment. It was found out in the result that blended learning shows an effective tool to enriched student performance in programming. It is recommended to use different learning mode of delivery to shows a significant increase and improvement in the academic performance. 
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This article outlines a study that compared an online virtual laboratory with a face-to-face laboratory. The main objective of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a virtual method of instruction for a general studies, physical science laboratory course. Using a pretest–posttest only design with nonequivalent control groups, differences between assessment scores, attitudes, and personal preferences were used to evaluate the likelihood of any impact of the online delivery when compared with that of the traditional method. No significant differences were found between the groups’ content knowledge gained or in their attitudes or preferences. While this result may seem discouraging at first, virtual laboratory sections can often be cost-effective for institutions to use and therefore may be a favorable choice. Also, there is a growing need or desire for online formats, and this study demonstrates that virtual methods are an effective alternative to face-to-face methods with laboratory content knowledge attainment. A discussion follows with suggestions or items to consider in designing or switching to a virtual format. 
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