Student Performance In A Quantitative Methods Course Under Online And Face-To-Face Delivery

Abstract

In a study conducted at a large public university, the authors assessed, for an upper-division quantitative methods business core course, the impact of delivery method (online versus face-to-face) on the success rate (percentage of enrolled students earning a grade of A, B, or C in the course). The success rate of the 161 online students was 55.3%, significantly lower (p = .000) than that (72.6%) of the 212 face-to-face students. Both students with a strong (A or B) grade in the lower-division statistics prerequisite and students with a weak (C or D) grade in the prerequisite had a significantly lower (by approximately 17 percentage points) success rate under online delivery than under face-to-face delivery. The study is contrasted with prior studies on the relative effectiveness of different modes of course delivery. Implications of the study’s findings are discussed.