Is it Live or is it Internet? Experimental Estimates of the Effects of Online Instruction on Student Learning

Abstract

We appreciate the financial support of the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Education (via the National Center for the Analysis of Longitudinal Data in Education Research.) We are grateful to the introductory microeconomics professor and the large university that permitted us to randomly assign students to live and online versions of the same class. All errors are our own, and our results and conclusions do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, or the undisclosed university in question. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research. NBER working papers are circulated for discussion and comment purposes. They have not been peerreviewed or been subject to the review by the NBER Board of Directors that accompanies official NBER publications.

Assessing the Impact of Blended Learning on Student Performance

“…Thus, while we compare the results of the same student across blended learning and traditional lecturing, Joyce et al (2014) compare students across the control and treatment groups. Similarly to Figlio et al (2013), they show that there was a small difference in performance favouring the traditional teaching treatment.…”

“…Therefore, there is a potential selfselection bias in that only students and instructors who would prefer an online format might have volunteered for it. Figlio et al (2013) reported on an experiment where controls were significantly more robust than those in the literature reviewed above. In particular, they reported on an experiment conducted in a large (1,600-2,600 students per semester) principles of microeconomics class taught by a single instructor at a large researchintensive university.…”

“…For a more comprehensive list of references see, for example, http://www.nosignificantdifference.org/ or Means et al (2009). This paper is closely related to Brown and Liedholm (2002), Bowen et al (2013), Figlio et al (2013), Coates et al (2004) and Xu and Jaggars (2013). Brown and Liedholm (2002) assessed the impact of teaching mode on student performance in principles of microeconomics courses taught at Michigan State University in 2000 and 2001. The key question they examined was whether students enrolled in online courses learn more or less than students taught face-toface or through blended learning.…”

Emerging online educational models and the transformation of traditional universities

“…Moreover, the performance of the students is negatively affected if the hybrid classes are based in large lecture halls. Figlio, Rush, and Yin (2010) show that the face-to-face learning outperforms eLearning for low-achievers, males, and Hispanic students. Xu and Jaggars (2013)show the ineffectiveness of eLearning for community college students.…”

Promoting Numeracy in an Online College Algebra Course through Projects and Discussions

“…A spate of other analyses followed. As no surprise, some meta-analyses have found that online learning is no different or superior (Bernard et al 2004;Zhao et al 2005;Caldwell 2006;Means et al 2009), while others have found the opposite (Rovai 2002;Figlio et al 2010;Tanyel and Griffin 2014). In particular, it has been found that online math courses -especially at the community college level -suffer from low retention rates (Mensch 2010;Xu and Jaggars 2011).…”