Fully Online or Blended Courses does it make a difference for the learner?

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1 Fully Online or Blended Courses does it make a difference for the learner? D. Sarkis, N. Kee, C.J. Perumalla Department of Physiology, University of Toronto Toronto, Canada [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Abstract Technological advances are shaping the educational system to meet the growing demands of new generation in a global classroom. The online human physiology course developed at the University of Toronto has provided a test case for online courses for both distance and on campus learners. These courses provide flexibility and selfdirected learning in a semi-structured environment for both local and global students to learn physiology at their own pace and place. Both local and global online courses include lecture videos, online discussion boards available 24/7, virtual office hours, and constant support and monitoring of the course website by a teaching assistant (TA) and the course coordinator (CC). The evaluation and assessment consists of about five online quizzes and a proctored final exam. Our online on-campus courses are considered blended online courses as they combine online-based components with face-to-face time with the TA and CC. In this study we compare the two types of online courses virtual distance online (VDOC) and blended (on -campus) online (BOC) in terms of method of delivery, student demographics, educational background, course/degree requirement, performance, and experience rating. While the learning experience is similar in both types of courses, there is an interesting difference in terms of group dynamics, course averages and participation on the course discussion board. The data from these two types of courses will also be compared with an identical on campus course which has no online component to assess the efficiency of online courses as a teaching tool. Keywords-component; online; virtual online; blended online; videos, discussion board, virtual office hours I. Introduction In the dynamic and technologically-advancing twenty first century, the term life-long learner is taking on a new meaning as regular students and professionals must be able to learn new skills or acquire new certificates or degrees to help them advance their careers. Online learning (also referred to as elearning) provides an ideal platform and distinct advantages over conventional education where students must attend lectures on campus. Online courses provide new opportunities for distance education where those already in the work force and need professional development courses can take courses without interfering with their family commitments, work schedules, or compromising their financial stability while allowing them to overcome logistical obstacles (living far from an educational institute for instance). Furthermore, increasing numbers are choosing a second career in health science and need to fulfil certain pre-requisite courses (such as Human Physiology) to gain admission into a program of choice; elearning is very convenient for such students as well. ) (ISSN : ), Volume No : 12 Issue No : 4..Page 1

2 Although online education offers a great deal of flexibility and self-directed learning, it is sometimes met with skepticism in terms of effectiveness and reliability in enhancing the educational experience of learners as compared to the conventional classroom setting. At the University of Toronto (UofT) in Canada, we decided to take advantage of today s technological innovations and began to offer online courses in human physiology. This allowed for the incorporation of the human-knowledge-technology (HKT) paradigm of elearning into these courses and enhancing the learning experience of the students enrolled [1]. At the UofT, two types of online physiology courses are offered: virtual distance online courses (VDOC) and blended online courses (BOC); both VDOC and BOC provide flexibility and self-directed learning in a semi-structured environment. VDOC is offered to students anywhere in the world with access to the internet and does not have an oncampus component [2]. The BOCs are offered as a program requirement for students in Pharmacy (PHARM), Medical Radiation Science (MRS), or Physician Assistant Progra m (PAP). The BOCs have some on -campus components, allowing interaction with the teaching assistant and the course coordinator (see Methods for details). We therefore decided to investigate whether having the face-to-face interaction with the teaching assistant and course coordinator offered an advantage favoring students enrolled in BOC over students enrolled in VDOC, who could only contact the teaching staff via . Furthermore, does knowing your classmates and having pre-formed camaraderie with them in any way enhance or impact their learning in BOCs. To do so, we examined the final scores of students in each category and compared surveys that evaluated the student experience in their respective courses. This information will help answer the question: how indispensable is the face-to-face interaction component in enhancing the learning experience of a student? We will also compare our results to data obtained from an on-campus course identical to VDOC and BOC in terms of content. II. Methods Both VDOC and BOC courses rely on the course website on Blackboard platform, which is housed on the university s server. Courses vary in the number of didactic lecture hours (51 hours for VDOC, hours for BOC) spanning 10 modules, which encompass the major systems in human physiology. These web-lectures are coded using Flash and launched on the course website using epresence multimedia platform. The video lecturers are delivered in recording studios where the lecturer is facing the camera directly, allowing students to establish a human connection with them, while the corresponding lecture slides appear next to the lecturer s image, allowing students to follow the progression of the lecture (see Figure 1). Every week (Sunday at midnight), three 50 minut e lecture videos are made available on the course website for a period of 8 days. During this period, students can watch each lectures multiple times, at their own pace from anywhere in the world as long as they have medium speed internet available to them. To ensure discipline and compliance, these videos are removed at the end of the week and 3 new lectures are made available, and so on. Lecture slides are posted on the course website in PDF format for students to download and/or print to help with the learning process. The VDOC layout has been described previously [2]. Students have open access to the course website, where tools to aid them in their learning are made available. The course discussion board (DB) is a forum where students can post their questions and offer insight and answers to questions posted by their colleagues. DB is available 24/7 and is ) (ISSN : ), Volume No : 12 Issue No : 4..Page 2

3 constantly monitored by the teaching assistant (TA) and the course coordinator (CC). In addition, the TA holds two weekly virtual office hours where students can log on to a chat room (Java based) and ask questions and participate in discussions. The TA types his/her responses to the questions posted by students, and also has a white board tool to allow drawing and illustrating concepts and solutions to problems. Additionally, these sessions are recorded so students who miss them or cannot attend can review them at a later time. Students also have the option of contacting the TA and CC directly via , although communication through the course website is encouraged to enhance the learning experience and involve the entire class in the discussion. Students performance is assessed based on their participation in discussions (as recorded on DB: 5%), online quizzes (45%), and a proctored final exam at an exam center close to the location of the student (50%). Each online quiz is administered every three weeks and includes the material covered the previous three weeks. The online quiz consists 20 multiple choice questions (MCQ) and the students have 30 minutes to complete it. The quiz is uploaded on the course website on Monday morning at 12 am and is available for students for a period of 24 hours during which time they can take the quiz anytime from anywhere in the world. Once they have accessed the quiz, the computer will bump them out at the 30 minute mark. More information on the course can be found at Figure 1: Interface of VDOC showing the lecturer and the corresponding lecture slides. The University of Toronto, through its Physiology department, offers 3 blended online courses (BOC) that have small differences in their structure. BOCs cover the same 10 modules as VDOC and use the same lecture video structure, but the number of lecture hours is different based on the course and the audience. DB is available for students in BOCs, as well as the option to contact the TA and CC via . Instead of holding virtual office hours, TA holds in person office hours where students can ask questions and participate in discussions. Students performance is assessed based on online quizzes (20-30%), midterm tests (30%), and a final exam (40-50%), which are proctored and held on campus in the presence of the TA and CC. In our analysis, we will choose the MRS course as a representative of BOC, as it has a comparable number of students enrolled and has been offered for a number of years similar to VDOC. ) (ISSN : ), Volume No : 12 Issue No : 4..Page 3

4 III. Results Since our methods of assessment for VDOC and BOCs are similar, we decided to compare the performance of students in the two course categories to assess the efficiency and validity of the course assessments and the learning experience. The final score averages from three academic years were compared and an equivalent in-class course was included in the analysis for reference (Figure 2) Final Mark Comparison BOC VDOC In-Class Figure 2: Comparison between the final mark average of the three types of courses (BOC, VDOC, In- Class). We also examined whether a correlation between term test marks and final marks existed for each student in the course, thus providing insight into the teaching efficacy of VDOC and BOC. A correlation was evident between a student s term test mark and his/her final test mark (and therefore final course mark). Figure 3 shows an example of one session in VDOC students, but trend is also noted for students in BOC and an in-class equivalent course. Figure 3: Conserved pattern of performance in term marks, final exam, and final grades in VDOC. When asked to complete a survey inquiring about satisfaction with the course and the learning experience, students in both VDOC and BOC had similar responses. Students were presented with several questions pertaining to ) (ISSN : ), Volume No : 12 Issue No : 4..Page 4

5 the lecturers and the course in general, and were asked to base their response on a 1-7 scale, where 1 meant Extremely Poor and 7 meant Outstanding. When this survey was administered in 2012, students in VDOC were asked was this course well organized and integrated with logical progression of subject matter? To that, 28% of students answered 7, 35% answered 6, 30% answered 5, 4% answered 4, and 3% answered 3. BOC students in the same year responded to that question with 21% answering 7, 42% answering 6, 24% answering 5, 10% answering 4, 1% answering 3, and 2% answering 2. When asked whether they found the course to be a valuable learning experience, 40% of VDOC students answered 7, 33% answered 6, 19% answered 5, and 5% answered 4, 3% answered 3, and 1% answered 2. 17% of BOC students responded with 7, 38% with 6, 26% with 5, 12% with 4, 4% with 3, and 3% with 2 (Figure 4). 50% 0% Well organized and integrated with logical progression of subject matter BOC VDOC 60% 40% 20% 0% This course was a valuable learning experience BOC VDOC Figure 4: Student responses to a survey assessing their learning experience. IV. Discussion In this study, we compare the performance and evaluation from students enrolled in two categories of online courses: virtual distance online courses (VDOC) and blended online courses (BOC). Our results show that students enrolled in BOC had a higher final grade in the course compared to their VDOC counterparts. This can be explained by the student population enrolled in each of the categories: students enrolled in BOC are working towards a second degree in a professional program and have a strong background in the material being taught. It is also possible that the live interaction with the TA and CC had a positive impact on students in giving them the ability to clarify course material. On the other hand, students enrolled in VDOC generally do not possess a similar foundation in the course material and are taking this course as a prerequisite to get into certain professional programs, as a stepping stone for a career change, or merely out of interest; furthermore, they depend exclusively on online interactions with their peers, TA and CC. Based on the student evaluations, one can see that students enjoyed their learning experience in both categories and managed to obtain a substantial amount of knowledge. Furthermore, students in both categories gave high ratings for the lecture videos and pointed out that seeing the lecturer allowed them to achieve the human-contact they normally desire and find in a regular classroom setting. In addition, students enrolled in BOC had the opportunity to form study groups and meet in person to review the course material prior to a quiz or an exam, if need be. Students enrolled in VDOC, on the other hand, did not have that opportunity and relied solely on the course website to establish this sense of community amongst each other and form study groups to carry out discussions on the course website. Despite this ) (ISSN : ), Volume No : 12 Issue No : 4..Page 5

6 apparent disadvantage, VDOC students performed at a level comparable to BOC students, indicating that physical proximity to other students and the conventional study group is not necessary for good academic performance, as there are alternatives made available through today s technology, such as Skype and other conference/video call programs. It was previously shown that there is a correlation between the online activity of students enrolled in VDOC, as measured by the number of posts made on DB, and the performance in the course, measured by the final score obtained [5]. It can be seen that students who had little activity on DB tend to score less than their more active peers. This trend is also seen in BOC courses. When we compared the term test marks to the final exam marks for individual students in each course category, we found a correlation in terms of student performance between the two assessments in both VDOC and BOC. We further examined these data by comparing them to data obtained from an equivalent inclass course, where we observed similar learning trends across all three course categories. This indicates that, contrary to common belief, marks in VDOC are not inflated (due to inefficiency of asse ssment or cheating on the test, for example), thus proving the validity and efficacy of virtual online courses as an educational tool. V. Conclusion The University of Toronto has set out to ensure that pedagogic principles drive technological innovation to enhance learning, not the other way around. In this study, we compared two types of online courses: virtual distance online courses (VDOC) and blended online courses (BOC), in terms of student performance (assessed by their final grades) and student rating (assessed by surveys conducted at the end of the course). We show that scores do not vary significantly between VDOC and BOC despite the differences in the student populations, indicating the efficiency of both types of course material delivery. Furthermore, students in both course categories enjoyed their learning experience, thus indicating that the human-contact component not offered in VDOC is not detrimental to the learner, as sufficient interaction is achieved by watching the lecture videos and being able to reach the TA and/or CC via or through the course website. References [1] D. Tapscott, Grown up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing Your World, McGraw-Hill, [2] T. W. Au, S. Sadiq, and X. Li, Learning from Experience: Can elearning Technology Be Used as a Vehicle? Proceedings of the International Conference on e-learning;2009, p32 [3] C. Perumalla, J. Mak, N. Kee, and S. Matthews, Integrating Web Applications to Provide an Effective Distance Online Learning Environment for Students Procedia Computer Science 3 (2011): [4] M. Bermejo and A. Sanchez, Improving Learning Experience: Detection of Team Roles in a Discussion Forum Proceedings of the International Conference on e-learning;2009, p52. [5] N. Kee, C. Palmer, S. Matthews, and C. Perumalla Efficacy of Online Learning - Comparison Between Online and On-campus Physiology Students' Experience (STHLE). ) (ISSN : ), Volume No : 12 Issue No : 4..Page 6