An Empirical Study of Face-to-Face and Distance Learning Sections of a Core Telecommunication Course

Abstract

We present an empirical study that compared the student learning outcomes of face-to-face and distance learning sections of a Telecommunications course. Student performance was assessed based on the course grade, which included the final exam, quizzes, assignments, and midterm exam scores. Both classes were taught by the same instructor, and had similar content and assessment measures. The study factored in the students' demographics such as gender, work and residency status to assess their impact on student learning. In addition, data stored in the learning management system (LMS), BlackBoard ™, were collected and used to understand student activities within the system, and determine their relation with student performance. The number of times the material was accessed and the time duration spent on assessments are some of the examples of the data that were included in the study. The results show that there is a correlation between students' use of Blackboard and student performance. We found a significant statistical difference between course grades of the face-to-face and distance learning sections. We did not find any evidence for significant difference across a range of demographic factors.

The Relation between Academic Procrastination of University Students and Their Assignment and Exam Performances: The Situation in Distance and Face-to-Face Learning Environments

“…When we take into the consideration the curvilinear characteristic of procrastination behavior, compared to the procrastinators in DL environment, procrastinators in FtF environment have fewer study materials, which they compiled with their own efforts in order to prepare for the exam. According to the findings of Almatrafi, Islam, Johri, Nagappan, & Modanlu (2015), a positive correlation exists between students' use of Blackboard and student performance. Similarly, de Jong, Verstegen, Tan, & O'Connor (2013) state that the absence of online learning materials in FtF environments can be considered as an advantage for procrastinating students in blended learning environments.…”

Online and face‐to‐face learning: Evidence from students’ performance during the Covid‐19 pandemic

“…Our study contributes to the literature by examining the changes in the online (post‐lockdown) performance of students and their F2F (pre‐lockdown) performance. This approach differs from previous studies that, in most cases, use between‐subject designs where one group of students following online learning is compared to a different group of students attending F2F lectures (Almatra et al, 2015; Brown & Liedholm, 2002). This approach has a limitation in that that there may be unobserved characteristics unique to students choosing online learning that differ from those choosing F2F lectures.…”

“…These findings are supported by Coates et al (2004) who base their study on macroeconomics students in the United States, and Xu and Jaggars (2014) who find negative effects for online students using a data set of about 500,000 courses taken by over 40,000 students in Washington. Furthermore, Almatra et al (2015) compare overall course grades between online and F2F students for a Telecommunications course and find that F2F students significantly outperform online learning students. In an experimental study where students are randomly assigned to attend live lectures versus watching the same lectures online, Figlio et al (2013) observe some evidence that the traditional format has a positive effect compared to online format.…”

Networks Security Lab Support: A Case Study for Problems Facing Distance Education Programs

“…Same course materials are offered to both face-to-face (F2F) and DE students, however, the methods of delivering these materials to F2F sections and DE sections of the same course are totally different. The way of assessing the different experience for both types of students was examined by authors in (Almatrafi, Khondkar, & Aditya, 2015) 1 . The results in this study shows that there is a correlation between the students' use of the learning management system (LMS), in this case Blackboard, and their success in the course.…”