A Preliminary Study of Business Student Perceptions of Online versus Face-to-Face Education

Abstract

As institutions of higher education continue to integrate online education into their curricula, the research on student perceptions of the value of online vs. face-to-face courses has produced mixed results. This project identified a number of dimensions used to assess the value of online versus face-to-face courses and measured this in a population of undergraduate and graduate business students. Our results, while also mixed, indicate some important differences in the perceived value of various education formats. These results have implications for both administrators and instructors.

A Study of Changes in Online Graduate Business Student Perceptions over a Course

“…With this increase in OL courses, several studies evaluated both student perceptions and student performance in the OL environment (e.g. Allen & Seaman, 2013;Braunscheidel, Fish & Shambu, 2013;Fish, 2015;Fish & Snodgrass, 2014, 2015Perreault, Waldman, Alexander & Zhao, 2008;Tanner, Noser, and Langford, 2003;Tanner, Noser, Fuselier & Totaro, 2004a;2004b;Tanner, Noser, Totaro & Birch, 2006;Tanner et al, 2009). Perception and performance results are mixed.…”

“…Students not taking OL courses perceive that faculty have low expectations of OL students, contrary to OL students that perceive instructors as having higher expectations (Dobbs et al, 2009). In a study of business students -regardless of whether the student took or did not take OL courses, students favored FTF courses; however, most OL respondents only took one course (Fish & Snodgrass, 2014). As students take more courses, studies evaluating student's perceptions of OL courses demonstrate an increasing acceptance of OL as being equal to or better than FTF (Dobbs et al, 2009;Fish & Snodgrass, 2014;Mortagy & Boghikian-Whitby, 2010;Perreault et al, 2008;Tanner et al, 2003).…”

“…In a study of business students -regardless of whether the student took or did not take OL courses, students favored FTF courses; however, most OL respondents only took one course (Fish & Snodgrass, 2014). As students take more courses, studies evaluating student's perceptions of OL courses demonstrate an increasing acceptance of OL as being equal to or better than FTF (Dobbs et al, 2009;Fish & Snodgrass, 2014;Mortagy & Boghikian-Whitby, 2010;Perreault et al, 2008;Tanner et al, 2003). Using the same survey instrument as a previous study, results indicated that as business students took more courses, their perceptions of the OL environment improved, and their perception that OL courses were more difficult than traditional classes increased (Fish & Snodgrass, 2014).…”

“…As students take more courses, studies evaluating student's perceptions of OL courses demonstrate an increasing acceptance of OL as being equal to or better than FTF (Dobbs et al, 2009;Fish & Snodgrass, 2014;Mortagy & Boghikian-Whitby, 2010;Perreault et al, 2008;Tanner et al, 2003). Using the same survey instrument as a previous study, results indicated that as business students took more courses, their perceptions of the OL environment improved, and their perception that OL courses were more difficult than traditional classes increased (Fish & Snodgrass, 2014). Therefore as shown in many studies (Dobbs et al, 2009;Mortagy & Boghikian-Whitby, 2010;Perreault et al, 2008), as students experience in the OL environment increases over time, their perceptions improve with increasing exposure to the OL environment.…”

“…Two streams of research in the OL environment exist: student characteristics (such as motivation, discipline and independence) and program characteristics (such as academic rigor or the ease of cheating) (Fish & Snodgrass, 2014). A survey instrument that includes these two streams of research, developed and used in prior studies, will be used in this study (Fish & Snodgrass, 2014, 2015.…”