KenIrwinModule9FinalReport

Research Study to Determine if Online Courses Offer the Same Educational Experience as
In-Class Courses.
Study Design

My report is to question whether Online versus In-Class Education provides equal learning
for students. My hypothesis is that there will be no difference in what a student learns if they
take either class. The study would concentrate on students taking undergraduate classes at
colleges and universities that offer the same courses online and in-class. The study would
utilize a population of students taking each course and would ask them questions through an
online questionnaire. I would also utilize grades and test scores from each of the students as a
means to weigh how well they did. Data would be kept anonymous, so students would not
have to worry about their information being shared.

University students will also have a greater cultural diversity with online courses. This will
largely be due to the fact that students from all over the world may be attending the course.
[ CITATION Bla19 \l 1033 ]. According to [ CITATION Coo18 \l 1033 ] more than one in four
college students in 2014 took a distance learning or online learning class. This is why many
schools are converting their curriculum over to online or hybrid courses where students can
learn through computers as well as in the classroom.

Population and Sample

Students taking online classes as well as in-class courses for university or training would be
the focus of the study. I would select 20 online and 20 in-class students that are taking the same
class with just the different delivery method. Students would be aware of the study, but not
completely aware of the research question. They would be asked to keep track of the time
allocated to their respective class and to provide grades based on assignments given to each
class. The study would only use eighty percent of the actual grades, but the same assignments for
both online and in-class data. At the end of the course, each student would need to provide their
final grade for the class. They would also be able to complete the survey and could answer
emotional style classes based on how they felt the class did by providing what they expected.

An alternative method to the online questionnaire would be an in-person questionnaire where

you would attend university meal areas or libraries and ask students to take place in the survey.
This could also be done with a phone survey where current and previous students could be called
and asked the same questions.

Variables and Measures

My dependent variables would include the following: In-Class GPA, Online GPA and Test
scores. These would be measured using the real information and organized in a statistical way to
rank them. Independent variables would be: Full Time/Part Time Student, Gender, Age, Sex,
Time Allocation, Working or not working and School Year being attended by the student. For
age, they would be in groups to keep similar aged students in the same group. These would be in
groups of five to break out younger verses older students getting their degree. Some intervening
variables would be if the class was designed as an in-class course or an online course. This data
would be used to help understand if one class has an advantage over another.
The relationships between the variables is clear in determining if the student has a success rate
at either type of class. The GPA can be used to measure success, but student understanding of the
subject is a better way of measuring success of a class.
Operationalizing variables is required to keep the variables utilized and defined throughout the
research. It will also help keep the scope of the research to an easier to define level.

Data Collection Methods

Surveys and focus groups would be the most appropriate methods as I would be able to control
the input from those who are invited to the survey or focus group. This would ensure the data I
am collecting is not skewed by just anyone contributing. If I were to cast a wide net to an online
survey or open forum, I would have to go through the data to ensure it was valid for my question.
Using In-depth interviews would provide great amount of details, but would take a considerable
time frame and the data would have to be grouped into themes.
The advantage to a survey would be a specific set of questions that could be grouped easily
into themes. The disadvantage to this is it could miss important information that would help me
find the answer to my research question. Focus Groups on the other hand would provide
information I may have missed on the survey, but the disadvantage would be the data is harder to
group when breaking it down statistically. This is why both methods should be combined to
provide a better look at the topic in order to answer the question with the highest confidence.

My data types will be a mix of nominal as well as ordinal data. The nominal data will be
simple data like gender, age, grades and test scores. This follows the Fisher’s exact test theory
and is unpaired data. Other nominal data would be the type of class the student is taking. This
would consist of online and in-class courses. For ordinal data, I will be able to see the
relationships between the data collected from survey’s and focus group sessions. I could
categorize the information found and use it to help determine the overall response to my research
question. These methods of data analysis would be appropriate for the study I am accomplishing
as they obtain the data I would need; they are also able to be analyzed statistically.
Data Analysis Methods
For data analysis techniques, I would use Age, Sex, Full Time Student or Part Time Student as
well as if they are working or not working at the time of the class. This data could be grouped to
see if that has an effect on the scholarly success as well as the overall feeling of the courses.
Testing scores would be used to determine if the groups are similar or different for the groups.
The data from the test that are based off of feeling as well as those questions from the group
sessions and surveys.
 Students would also be asked a series of questions regarding their time allocated to the classes.
This would also help understand if students taking online classes have a similar amount of time
invested as those taking classroom style courses. All of the data would be set to groups based on
if it can be measured or ranked or if it is binomial. Then it could be bucketed as categorical or
continuous data.
By measuring nominal and ordinal data, I would be able to put the data in categories and
would be able to use this to test my hypothesis. Dependent and Independent variables will be
used to categorize the data and to ensure the data being collected is in alignment with the
research question.
  The qualitative methods I would look into for my research question would be forums,
surveys, focus groups and in-depth interviews. This would help me validate the research question
and determine what it is that I want the research to answer. Using previous research of the topic,
I could build the surveys and questions to get the answers I am looking for to answer my
research question. The information would be reduced down into themes to get the data needed to
verify my predictions.

References
Black, D. C. (2019, April 16). Online Education as ab Opportunity Equalizer: The Changing
Canvas of Online Education. Interchange, pp. 423-443.
Cook, J. (2018). Online Education and the Emotional Experience of the Teacher. Teaching and
Learning, 67-75.
 Survey/Questionare

1. Age (18-23), (24-29), (30-35), (36-41), (42-47), (47+)?

2. Sex?
3. Gender?
4. Are you a (Full Time) or (Part Time) Student
5. Do you Work?
6. How Much Time do you allocate each week to this class? (5-10 Hours), (11-15 Hours), (more
than 15)?
7. Overall GPA?
8. Class Grade?
9. Grades for Modules: 2, 4, 6, 8?
10. Final Test Grade?
11. Mid-Term Test Grade?
12. How did you feel the class performed in meeting your expectations?
13. Did you struggle to learn a certain topic of the class?
14. Was the workload of the class (too much), (not enough), (too little)

Cover Letter

Welcome to my research study on college class effectiveness. In this study you will be asked to
provide some private information including Grades, GPA, Test Scores, Time Utilization and some
information about yourself. All of this information will be kept anonymous and will not be stored in any
other way than numerical. You will be assigned a designator such as Student A, that you will not know is
you unless you check your information with what is listed in the analytics of the survey. The survey will
be able to breakdown how well students performed based on Age, Sex, Gender, Year of Student, Grades
and GPA. The sample of students will be forty across multiple courses and types of courses. You will also
be asked a few questions on your thought and feelings about the course. This will also be utilized to
better understand your feelings about the courses.

All of the data will be shared with students at the end of the study in a confidential format. No names
will be used and only the collective data from the analysis will be shown on the charts. Nothing specific
will be utilized and items like grades and test scores will be bucketed in groups to show how the general
population of a specific group performed, not specifically by student.

You will be asked to keep track weekly of your study time and class allocation time. This will be used to
determine if study time had an effect on student performance.

I appreciate your time and willingness to participate in this research!

Thank you!