Performance Gaps between Online and Face-to-Face Courses: Differences across Types of Students and Academic Subject Areas

Prior online course experience and G.P.A. as predictors of subsequent online STEM course outcomes

“…Figlio, Rush, and Yin (2010) found significant differences in exam achievement among online and face-to face university students with lower G.P.A.s; these differences were not mirrored among university students with higher G.P.A.s. Similarly, Jaggars and Xu (2010) and Xu and Jaggars (2013) recently found that G.P.A. was positively correlated to course outcomes at community colleges in both Virginia and Washington State.…”

“…However, there is currently little data available on the number of STEM courses offered online, particularly at community colleges. One recent study of Washington state community college students indicated that approximately 10% of all course enrollments were in online classes, with computer science classes showing greater enrollments than the average and math and natural science classes showing less than average online enrollments (Xu & Jaggars, 2013). According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the majority of STEM studies have been conducted at Research Extensive and Research Intensive universities, and there is a gap in the literature on STEM enrollment, retention and graduation at the community college level (George, Neale, Van Horner, & Malcolm, 2001).…”

“…Previous academic preparation, measured by G.P.A., has been posited as a key predictor of retention in online learning (Boston, Ice, & Burgess, 2012;Diaz, 2002;Muse, 2003;Nora, Barlow, & Crisp, 2005;Rovai, 2003; for a review see Xu & Jaggars, 2013). Aragon and Johnson (2008) cite G.P.A.…”

Evaluating Characteristics of Top and Bottom Performance: Online Versus In-Class

“…The most current research in online teaching investigates the characteristics of students who are most likely to perform poorly in an online course (see, e.g., Xu and Jaggars 2013;Marshall, Greenberg, and Machun 2012). This literature is important because online instructors may not realize who is struggling in their class.…”

Designing futures for peer-to-peer learning @ CSCW

“…This is similar to what research has suggested for a long time about the struggles of online communities to garner participation and motivate contributions [11]. Further, students who fare the worst are likely those who are already struggling [20]. In the area of OER, it is often unclear if given open resources are an appropriate match for the skills, knowledge and cultural background of learners [3].…”