Comparative study

Title:

Comparing Student Learning and Attitudes

Type of study:

Perception and Performance study.

Author:

Renee Smith and Linda Palm

Purpose:

This study compared students in traditional and distance sections of PHIL 101: Introduction to Philosophy in terms of both objective learning outcomes and student attitudes in the form of students' anticipated and perceived learning and course satisfaction.

The Audience:

141 students who enrolled in Introduction to Philosophy during the fall semester of 2005 or the spring semester of 2006 at Coastal Carolina University.

The technology used:

Traditional format VS distance format (WebCT)

Instrument:

Survey

Conclusion:

The results of the study indicated that the traditional and distance students did not differ significantly in their in performance on graded assignments, their expectations for learning at the start of the course, their perception of what they had learned at the end of the course, and their willingness to take another philosophy course.

Distance students anticipated enjoying specific course activities more than traditional students, but at the end of the semester, reported enjoyment of these activities did not differ.

Students in the traditional classes, however, rated the lectures as more interesting and rated the course, overall, as more enjoyable than students in the distance classes. The implications of these findings for philosophy instructors considering the use of the distance format are discussed.

Reference:

Smith and Palm. (2010). Comparing Student Learning and Atittudes. 13th january.