Online vs. On-Campus Learning in Teacher Education

Abstract

Many universities have developed teacher preparation programs online. This study explores online learning in a graduate school course on behavior management that is included in the special education teacher credential program at a large private university in California. A total of 140 adult students took the course, half of these online and the other half on-campus. Students self-selected the format in which they took the course. Learning and follow-up teaching performances were evaluated and compared across these two settings by first, measurement of learning as recorded on three periodic standard multiple-choice quizzes taken during the course and secondly, on performance in a follow-up measure of behavior management in student teaching as recorded by a master teacher and university supervisor. No significant differences between these two groups were found in the measurement of initial learning or follow-up performance. The absence of significant difference is reviewed along with the value of actual differences available in each learning experience.

Hong Kong and Canadian students experiencing a new participatory culture: A teacher professional training project undergirded by new media literacies

“…Empirical inquiries that investigated novel ways of leveraging participatory and technology-based learning in teacher education are prolific (e.g., Bonk, Malikowski, Angeli, & East, 1998;Caywood & Duckett, 2003;Cowham & Duggleby, 2005;Ertmer et al, 2011;Hou, 2014;Keller, Bonk, & Hew, 2005;King, 2002;Oner & Adadan, 2011;Reingold, Rimor, & Kalay, 2008); however, there are limited inquiries that harnessed virtual transnational connections in teacher professional training where in-and preservice teachers are geographically separated. Riel (1993) accentuates a notable involvement of teachers and students in collaborative problem-solving, particularly endeavors that can strengthen "teachers' links to world events and to global issues" through participation in global networks (p. 222).…”

Teaching Courses Online: A Review of the Research

“…Buckley's study (2003) compared midterm and final scores and course grade among three groups of nursing students in face-to-face, hybrid, and online sessions of the course taught by the same instructor and found no significant differences there either. Other studies (Caywood & Duckett, 2003;Christopher, Thomas, & TallentRunnels, 2004;Neuhauser, 2002;Peterson & Bond, 2004;Thirunarayanan & Perez-Prado, 2001) using convenience samples to compare learning by online and traditional methods failed to find differences. With various student populations (nursing students, students with special needs, preservice teachers, ESL teachers, special education teachers) and a wide spectrum of measures of learning outcomes (test scores, course grades, course projects, rated performance) involved in the comparison, it seems that the majority of researchers agree that online instruction is at least as effective as traditional ways of teaching.…”

Promoting Special Education Preservice Teacher Expertise

“…Finally, one study examined the effects of distance education learning for a course in behavior management. Caywood and Duckett (2003) evaluated students' knowledge acquisition and application in a student teaching experience and found no significant differences between students who took the course in a traditional format and those who took the course online. Pindiprolou et al (2003) investigated how various online pedagogies differed.…”

“…Beattie, Spooner, Jordan, Algozzine, and Spooner (2002) found that preservice teachers' course evaluations of a methods course in learning disabilities were similar whether presented in online or face-to-face formats. In addition to measuring preservice teachers' perceptions about distance education, several research teams (Caywood & Duckett, 2003;Pindiprolou, Peck Peterson, Rule, & Lignugaris-Kraft, 2003;Smith, Smith, & Boone, 2000) have investigated knowledge acquisition and application outcomes. Smith, Smith, and Boone (2000) found that preservice teachers enrolled in an educational technology integration course performed equally well on pre-and posttest knowledge measures in online and traditional class formats that made use of lectures, guided instruction, and collaborative discussions.…”