Research Proposal: Evaluating the Effectiveness of Distance Learning in comparison to the Traditional Classroom.
Introduction
Orientation to Topic
Online learning is the most popular form of distance education today. It has had a considerable effect on tertiary education, and the trend is growing considerably. Online learning is taking classes through the use of the Internet. It is also known as “e-learning”. Online learning is one of the types of “distance learning” – the umbrella term for any learning that takes place across distance and not face to face. Online learning comprises classes that are entirely taught through the Internet or a combination of Internet-delivered classes and periodic meetings in a traditional classroom. Clark and Mayer (2003) state that almost 90% of all universities with more than 10,000 students offer some form of distance learning, nearly all of which use the Internet .one of the merits of online writing is the flexibility it provides to the students.
According to Tucker (2003), distance learning classes reach a wider audience of students, address student needs much better, saves money the school and the student money, and most significantly uses the principle of modern learning pedagogy.
The main question in the education community is whether online learning is as active as traditional classroom learning. They are putting into consideration the amount of time, money, and other resources dedicated to online education.
Purpose Statement
The purpose of my research proposal is to analyze the following thesis: Online learning is more effective, as judged by the students’ level of understanding, than traditional classroom delivered instruction. The level of student understanding will be judged by posttest grades
Research questions
These activities were undertaken to address four research questions:
- How does the effectiveness of online learning compare with that of traditional classroom instruction?
- What are the practices associated with effective online learning?
- What conditions influence the effectiveness of online learning?
Importance of the study
This study seeks to examine the learning effects of online learning, and It also aims to understand the conditions and practices associated with differences in effectiveness. Requirements include the year in which the intervention took place, the learners’ demographic characteristics, the teacher’s or instructor’s qualifications, and state accountability systems. In contrast, practices concerning how online learning is implemented (e.g., whether an online course facilitator is used or not). In choosing whether or where to use online learning (e.g., to teach mathematics for high school students, to teach a second language to elementary students), it is important to understand the degree of effectiveness of online learning under differing conditions.
Definition of terms
Correspondence Courses: conducted through regular mail with little interaction. (Brown-Chidsey & Bickford, 2016).
Online Learning: Internet-based courses offered synchronously and/or asynchronously. (Milner, 2010).
Literature Review
In analyzing the relevant literature, I looked for studies that showed how students performed based on online learning. I wanted studies that had the comparison of distance learning and face to face learning, taught by the same instructor, if possible. Consequently, I found four such. Constantine, Lazaridou, and Hellden (2006), The purpose of their study were to compare the knowledge and attitudes of junior high school students before and after their participation in an environmental education program delivered in two different ways. Their study involved intact high school classes utilizing a quasi-experimental design. The classes were divided into two subgroups; the first group taking their class via the traditional classroom methods and the second group receiving the class using online methods. The content of the lesson was identical, except in the delivery method. The sample contained 297 students aged between 13 to 14 years old from four junior high schools throughout Greece. Group one was taught the Effectiveness of Online Learning program in a traditional class set up. They held meetings weekly, in a normal 45-minute class over a period of 2 months. On the other hand, group two got exactly the same structure and amount of training over a similar time period, but the sessions were held in a computer laboratory instead of the classroom. Both groups were tested simultaneously to exclude potential influences independent of the study. The instrument of assessment was 40 questions from the course. The questions were multiple-choice with five possible choices, with only one correct answer. The Instruments of assessment were submitted to a panel of experts who established their content validity. Both groups were given a pretest and a posttest. The pretest was given a week before the start of the class, and the posttest was given a week after the end of the class. The results exposed that the second group, taking online learning, raised their score higher than the first group, who were taking their learning through the face to face method. The first group’s score was an average of 68.09 on their pretest with a standard deviation of 6.48 and scored an average of 71.68 on their posttest with a standard deviation of 6.8 the second group managed an average of 68.34 on their pretest with a standard deviation of 5.13 and on their posttest scored a 73.22 with a standard deviation of 7.04. Aivazidid, Lazaridou, and Hellden, therefore, came to the conclusion that online classes were more effective in comparison with the traditional classroom learning based on the 3.43 difference in posttest scores.
Thirunarayanan and Prado (2001) undertook a study for the aim of comparing achievement between online and traditional classroom learning where the students did not know the way in which the content would be offered. The students were enrolled in a program where they would teach English to none native speakers. The traditional classroom learning comprised 31 students, whereas the online class comprised 29 students. The students were assigned to the online and classroom-based study course. Nonetheless, when students enrolled, they were not informed if they were registering as online or traditional classroom students. A pretest was given to both the groups and an identical test given as a posttest at the end of the course. The content was taught by the same instructor in both classes. The instructor covered the same content in both sections of the course, with the traditional classroom getting the content through lectures and group work. The online class got the same content through online notes, and interactive chat sessions with the instructor and classmates link to video clips and links to relevant web pages. Both groups had the same hours of access for individual time with the instructor through office hours. The outcome indicated that online students improved their scores from the pretest to the posttest by an average of 16.21 points, whereas the average scores of the traditional class students improved by only 13.19 points. This shows that online group achieved numerically, but not significantly, higher scores than their counterparts in the traditional classroom-based section. Thirunarayanan and Prado concluded students taking online classes achieved more compared to their counterparts who were classroom-based. However, the results do not support this conclusion. The difference in posttest scores between the two groups was only 1.31 points – which is not enough to conclude that one method is superior to the other.
Finally, O’Dwyer, Carey, and Kleiman researched the effectiveness of online learning involving students participating in the Louisiana Algebra 1 Online
Online Learning and project effectiveness during the 2004-2005 school year. The Algebra 1 online course was available to grades eight and nine students where no mathematics certified teacher was available in their schools. Four hundred sixty-three online and traditional group students in total were taught in the 34 classrooms. The classes met on a standard schedule; the online students meet in a technology-equipped room. The online class comprised 231 students, and the traditional class comprised of 232 students. The certified mathematics teachers served as both online teachers and traditional classroom teachers. There were no pre-requisites for the algebra I course, and all students were taking algebra 1 for the first time. Three instruments were used to gather data; a pretest designed to assess general mathematics ability, a posttest based on Louisiana’s Algebra 1 student requirements, and a survey for gathering data about students’ online experiences. The outcome of the pretest exhibited no major difference between the two groups. With a maximum score of 25 points, the traditional group scored 14.99 points, and the online students scored 14.91 points. Pre- to posttest scores were not examined directly. Instead, a multi-level regression model in which students pretest scores were included as a covariate to examine the effect of the online experience on students’ scores was examined. In this 25 item model, the online class scored higher in 18 items with a significant difference in four of the items. Of the seven items in which the traditional classroom scored higher than the online class, only three were important statistically.
Effectiveness of Online Learning in both groups of students was surveyed to analyze their online or classroom learning experience. 71% of online learning students said that they preferred using the internet technology as opposed to the traditional classroom instructions. However, a higher percentage of students in the traditional classroom were more confident about their algebra skills. 67.6% of the students that got classroom instruction felt very confident in their algebra skills, whereas only 49.8% of those students who got online instruction were confident of their algebra skills. The researchers conclude that while this finding is interesting given that students in the online classrooms had a higher posttest score than those in the traditional classrooms, it is consistent with the findings of other studies suggesting that students in online learning courses may have poorer perceptions of their learning. Most importantly, however, the study suggests that the Louisiana Algebra 1 online model is a viable approach in teaching students when a certified teacher is not available.
Whereas the literature review begins to support my hypothesis that online learning is more effective, as judged by the students’ level of understanding, than traditional classroom delivered instruction, it is far from conclusive. The research I propose below will assist in reaching a definitive conclusion.