ERIC Number: EJ1114193
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2004
Pages: N/A
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-1556-3847
EISSN: N/A
Putting the Distance Learning Comparison Study in Perspective: Its Role as Personal Journey Research
Meyer, Katrina A.
Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, v7 n1 Spr 2004
Administrators of distance learning are faced with the challenge of encouraging reluctant faculty to consider online teaching. Is it possible that supporting faculty to conduct modest research studies is such an avenue? Currently, many research studies compare student grades or scores from an online course to a more traditional one, ignoring confounding variables, such as individual differences, and the impact of instructional design. Yet despite criticism of the comparison study, it continues to be used. Are faculty using these studies to produce replicable results or are they using this design as a way to explore web-based learning and to prove to themselves that it is an acceptable innovation? If so, these studies can be seen as more properly the province of qualitative research that chronicles a personal journey focusing on what the researcher has learned rather than producing valid and replicable research results.
Descriptors: Distance Education, Technology Uses in Education, Educational Technology, Comparative Analysis, Educational Research, Online Courses, Teacher Attitudes, Teacher Researchers, College Faculty, Web Based Instruction
State University of West Georgia. 1601 Maple Street, Honors House, Carrollton, GA 30118. Tel: 678-839-5489; Fax: 678-839-0636; e-mail: distance@westga.edu; Web site: http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A