A study of California’s community college system found
that students aren’t doing as well in courses taken online when compared to
traditional classroom teaching. Researchers found that online students lag
behind their in-class peers in completing the course, completing it with a
passing grade, and completing it with grades of A or B.
The results were the same across subjects, as well as across
courses of different types and groups of students, according to a report in Inside Higher Education. No group of online students performed better than their
counterparts in face-to-face classes.
Researchers noted that the results may vary in other
states. However, the California system has placed a priority on online
education and has a huge student population to study.
“Faculty members teaching online should be aware of the
performance penalty associated with taking courses online and consider
implementing course policies and practices that would allow them to detect
student disengagement in the absence of the physical clues that face-to-face
instructors can rely on,” the authors of the study wrote. “Students should be
made aware that success rates are systematically lower in online than in
face-to-face sections so that they can make informed enrollment decisions, and
should be introduced to study strategies and time-management strategies that
promote success in online formats.”