Student Profile and Its Effects on Online and Hybrid Courses

Student Profile and Its Effects on Online and Hybrid Courses

Seta Boghikian-Whitby, Yehia Mortagy
Copyright: © 2010 |Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-852-9.ch005
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Abstract

This chapter is based on a longitudinal descriptive study that identifies the types of students enrolled in a Management Information Systems class offered in face-to-face and online delivery modalities over 15 semesters. The study used a total sample of 622 students where 296 students were enrolled in the faceto- face control section and 326 students were enrolled in the online experimental sections. The study profiles the demographics of students including: student type (traditional undergraduate or adult), age, gender, ethnicity, Myers Briggs personality profile, religion, citizenship, marital status, academic family generation, academic major, academic standing (freshman, sophomore, junior, senior), and grade point average (GPA). The study findings include: (1) adult students dominated the online delivery modality. (2) African American and Hispanic female adult students prefer taking online courses compared to face-to-face. (3) Forty percent of the students enrolled in online delivery modality were of extravert type. (4) The majority of the first generation students were enrolled in face-to-face delivery modality. Recommendations include short modules, use of different exercises in order to accommodate various learning styles. The chapter and the study results will assist administrators and faculty members to make better decisions by understanding the student population type.
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Personally, I think online classes should be limited to a manageable size and that professors should be required to analyze students' papers. If we are not guided, how will we learn? How can we expect to hold an executive position if we are not offered a professor’s perspective on our thought process? How can we live up to the “MBA” standard if we are not challenged to think by our professors? So far I've learned the most from you. Every professor should be judged by the standards you have for yourself and for your students.

Graduating senior at the University of La Verne, California 2008.

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Background

There is an increased demand for post-secondary education since employers started requiring college degrees as a prerequisite for job applicants. This change resulted in having junior colleges and universities overflow with adult students who are coming back to finish their degrees. Online education is very appealing to such students because of its convenience. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported a total of 3,077,000 student enrollments in all online distance learning courses at four year higher education institutions during the 2000-01 academicyear (Institute of Education Science, 2003). In California, the community colleges have experienced a 552% enrollment increase from the 1995-96 to 2005-06 academic year. In 2007, state public junior colleges reported an 18% increase in their online distance learning enrollment. Moreover, they stated that they are having a problem meeting the demand in hybrid and online distance learning courses with sufficient course offerings (Nather, 2007).

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