Date of Award
2002
Document Type
Practicum
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
Dr. John Morgan
Keywords
analysis, block program, Business Management, classroom instruction, classroom setting, course delivery, course quality, Curriculum Committee, distance education, final examination scores, independent samples t-test, instructional effectiveness, internet courses, liberal arts college, Limestone College, management education, mastery of course material, online learning, Principles of Management, student achievement, student performance, test scores, traditional classroom, web-based courses, work-life balance
Abstract
Limestone College is a small four-year liberal arts college that has a long-standing tradition of providing education to those people that desire a college degree, but because of their family and work responsibilities are not afforded the opportunity to attend traditionally delivered classroom courses. Limestone College has begun delivering non-traditional formatted courses via the internet. The Curriculum Committee felt that the web-based courses offered via the internet might not provide students with sufficient in-depth instruction or classroom interaction that would allow students to become proficient in the applications of the course material.
The Director of the Block Program at Limestone College wishes to expand the offerings of courses via the internet. There was insufficient evidence at Limestone College to make a decision as to whether the courses would be sufficient in providing instructions to students at a level deep enough to allow the student to develop a mastery of the course.
The study was conducted to determine if there was a significant difference in the test scores of students taking a course in Business Management via the internet compared to those taking the same course in a traditional classroom setting.
One question was researched for this project: is there a significant difference in the final examination scores of students taking the Principles of Management Course via the internet compared to those taking the same course in a traditional classroom setting?
Eight steps were used in conducting this research which included: a revtew of the literature, data collection and analysis and submission of the report to the Director of the Block Program at Limestone College.
The research was completed using a t-test for independent samples. The students participating in the courses both in the traditional classroom and on the internet received the same lecture from the same instructor, the same homework assignments, the same discussion questions were posed to both groups, the same textbook was used and participants were administered the same final examination and the scores were evaluated.
The research project has resulted in providing information to the Director of the Block Program at Limestone College to address the concerns of the Curriculum Committee at Limestone College.
The conclusion reached as a result the calculated t value of --0.21 being less than the critical t value of 2.01 of this study is that no significant differences exist in the final examination scores of students taking the Principles of Management Course at Limestone College compared to those taking the same course in a traditional classroom delivered format.
As a result of the findings in this research study it was recommended to the administration of Limestone College that they should continue the delivery of web-based distance education programs. It was also recommended that the administration have similar studies done of the other distance education courses to ensure quality ·of course delivery. A final recommendation to the administration is to conduct similar research of all methods of distance education delivered courses to ensure content value and quality.