Comparing student and faculty perceptions of online and traditional courses

摘要

The use of online courses on college campuses has grown substantially in recent years, despite limited information on how these courses are perceived by faculty and students, compared to traditional (classroom) classes. In this study, two separate, but equivalent, surveys were developed to compare the perceptions of faculty and students. Comparisons were made between the perceptions of faculty who have taught the same course using online and traditional formats to the perceptions of students who have taken online and traditional courses using a series of 7-point Likert scales. Both surveys measured: 1) perceptions of online versus traditional courses, 2) perceptions of students who take online courses and students' motivations for taking online courses, 3) perceptions of faculty members who teach online courses; and 4) demographic characteristics. Analysis of data included the comparison of mean values between faculty and students and Pearson correlation analysis to determine relationships between questions. Of the 25 questions investigated in this study, 12 showed significant differences in means between faulty and student perceptions (p ＜ 0.001). Significant findings from this research showed that compared to faculty perceptions, students tend to see online courses as more self-directed and believe that online students must be more willing to teach themselves. Students in online courses feel more disconnected from professors and fellow students than professors believe them to be. In addition, faculty tend to see the role of the professor as more critical to the success of online courses than students do.