Online Learning Efficacy Research Database

Since interaction provides the opportunity for students to share their ideas, thoughts, comments and feelings with their peers and teacher, it can be claimed that it is an integral component of learning. The present study applied the Sinclair and Coulthard’s interaction (IRF) (1975) model on the English learners of two traditional and virtual classes in order to investigate the differences between their writing scores in these two classes on the one hand, and the extent to which the IRF structure occurs in these two classes on the other hand. For this purpose, 79 and 20 intermediate level EFL learners were selected from the virtual and traditional classes of Payame Noor University (PNU). They were given the pre-test at the beginning and post-test after eight sessions of the same treatment in both classes by the same instructor. Their pre- and post-test scores were compared. The results indicated that there was a significant difference between the participants’ post-test scores in two classes in terms of three components of the intended six components of the five-paragraph essay. This study concluded that the participants in the virtual class performed better than their peers in the traditional one. Moreover, the number of interactions between the participants and teacher was more in the virtual class. Since the effect of interaction between the students and teacher on better performance and learning was shown in this study, other teachers can take into consideration the importance of interaction as well as technology for better teaching-learning process. 
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Universities in the U.S. typically offer to teach introductory engineering courses in large classes to tackle the increase in undergraduate engineering enrolment and to save on cost of teaching. Previous studies done on traditionally taught large classes have shown the negative effects it has on students and faculty. Many institutions use online courses to teach these large classes due to the flexibility they provide students with in their schedule and pace of learning, as well as being less expensive for the university. This study aimed to investigate the effect of online pedagogy on the academic performance of students enrolled in mechanics of materials course taught at a U.S. Midwestern University. The findings of the study reveal that the online pedagogy had a negative effect on student academic performance when compared with the traditionally taught group. This was true for all demographics (gender, enrolment status, nationality) and categories (high, medium and low academic performance) of students except for high performing students for whom online pedagogy shows promise. 
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In an attempt to meet rising student demand and cost-effectively deliver instruction, colleges and universities are offering more online courses. Despite the increasing growth of the online format, there remains a question of the effectiveness of this instructional delivery method. We evaluated the relative effectiveness of a public speaking course in both the online and the traditional face-to-face formats at a large, public university in the mid-Atlantic region. A series of MANOVAs were run to test the differences in performance and other student growth indicators between course formats. While the students in the online courses demonstrated higher behavioral engagement, the majority of indicators were similar across formats. The technology might explain the observed differences in online courses, which permits students to correct mistakes and re-record a presentation before submitting it, or the larger withdrawal rate which may selectively remove those students who may have done poorly in either format. Implications for future research and practice are presented. 
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Traditional lectures continue to be one of the common ways of teaching practiced in medical schools across India. However, there are many other effective ways of teaching in large groups and lately e-learning modules, which can be synchronous, asynchronous, or blended, have been used to complement face-to-face interactions. E-assignments have been effectively used to engage students into meaningful learning. Aim: The aim of the study is to compare asynchronous teaching with traditional teaching in terms of student perspectives and learning. Materials and Methods: After taking ethical clearance from the Institutional Ethics Committee, the study was conducted involving 66 student volunteers from MBBS 2nd year. All the students were subjected to a pretest on the topic – “low backache” prior to the intervention. The students were then divided into two groups: Group A and Group B of 33 students each. Group A was taught by traditional lecture method, while Group B was given an e-assignment on the topic for which no face-to-face interaction was done earlier. The students from both the groups were then subjected to a posttest followed by feedback. Results: Analysis of covariance, considering the pretest score as a covariate, revealed that the two groups were comparable to begin with P = 0.632. After the intervention, posttest mean scores improved significantly (P < 0.001) within each group, for both the groups, but there was no significant difference in posttest scores on intergroup comparison (P = 0.507). Student feedback brought to light that 85% of the students felt that the traditional lecture method followed by e-learning would be of a great benefit to them. Conclusion: Although no single method emerged as superior over the other, student feedback revealed that 90% of the students graded e-module as either satisfactory to good. Most felt that lecture followed by e-modules will help them to learn better. 
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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 groups + 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 besides 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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Online summer courses offer opportunities to catch-up or stay on-track with course credits for students who cannot otherwise attend face-to-face summer courses. While online courses may have certain advantages, participation patterns and student success in summer terms are not yet well understood. This quantitative study analyzed four years of institutional data cumulating in 72,441 course enrollments of 23,610 students in 433 courses during summer terms at a large public research university. Multi-level logistic regression models indicated that characteristics including gender, in-state residency, admission test scores, previous online course enrollment, and course size, among others, can influence student enrollment by course modality. Multi-way fixed effects linear regression models indicated that student grades were slightly lower in online courses compared to face-to-face courses. However, at-risk college student populations (low-income students, first-generation students, low-performing students) were not found to suffer additional course performance penalties of online course participation. 
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There are growing trends in postsecondary education that emphasize the importance of online and technology-enabled learning. This study aims to investigate whether the use of virtual, interactive, real-time, instructor-led (VIRI) online learning can deliver the same student performance and engagement outcomes as a face-to-face (F2F) course. The data consist of 698 participants taught in eight sections, over two semesters, with two different instructors. An analysis of variance was used to compare the differences for both student performance and engagement outcomes. The findings show that a synchronous course delivered using VIRI classroom technology has the same level of student performance outcomes as F2F learning. This study suggests that VIRI technology is an effective synchronous learning environment. 
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Although online courses are becoming increasingly popular in higher education, evidence is inconclusive regarding whether online students are likely to be as academically successful and motivated as students in face-to-face courses. In this study, we documented online and face-to-face students’ academic motivation and outcomes in community college mathematics courses, and whether differences might vary based on student characteristics (i.e., gender, underrepresented ethnic/racial minority status, first-generation college status, and adult learner status). Over 2,400 developmental mathematics students reported on their math motivation at the beginning (Week 1) and middle (Weeks 3, 5) of the semester. Findings indicated that online students received lower grades and were less likely to pass from their courses than face-to-face students, with online adult learners receiving particularly low final course grades and pass rates. In contrast, online and face-to-face students did not differ on incoming motivation, with subgroup analyses suggesting largely similar patterns of motivation across student groups. Together, findings suggest that online and faceto-face students may differ overall in academic outcomes but not in their motivation or differentially based on student characteristics. Small but significant differences on academic outcomes across modalities (Cohen’s ds = 0.17–0.28) have implications for community college students’ success in online learning environments, particularly for adult learners who are most likely to be faced with competing demands. 
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Hybrid and online courses are gaining attention as alternatives to traditional face-to-face classes. In addition to the pedagogical flexibility afforded by alternative formats, these courses also appeal to campuses aiming to maximize classroom space. The literature, however, reports conflicting results regarding the effect of hybrid and online courses on student learning. We designed, taught, and assessed a fully online course (100% online) and a hybrid-and-flipped course (50% online 50% face-to-face) and compared those for¬mats with a lecture-based face-to-face course. The three formats also varied in the degree of structure; the hybrid course was the most structured and the face-to-face course was the least structured. All three courses were taught by the same instructor in a large His¬panic-serving research university. We found that exam scores for all students were lowest in the face-to-face course. Hispanic and Black students had higher scores in the hybrid format compared with online and face-to-face, while white students had the highest per¬formance in the online format. We conclude that a hybrid course format with high struc¬ture can improve exam performance for traditionally underrepresented students, closing the achievement gap even while in-person contact hours are reduced. 
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