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Partial Online Instruction and Gender-based Differences in Learning: A Quasi-Experimental Study of American Government

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2006

Bruce M. Wilson ,
Philip H. Pollock  and
Kerstin Hamann
Bruce M. Wilson
Affiliation:
University of Central Florida
Philip H. Pollock
Affiliation:
University of Central Florida
Kerstin Hamann
Affiliation:
University of Central Florida
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Extract

College teachers are increasingly using instructional technology to supplement or substitute for face-to-face instruction. The incentives and arguments for doing so are many, including facilitation of higher education for non-traditional students and changing student demographics, skill building to improve student preparation for workplaces that are likely to use computer technology, space restrictions in universities with growing enrollment, the opportunities that Internet classrooms provide for organizing and monitoring student work and assignments, and so on. However, little is known about how online instruction affects the learner. Online instruction is, in many ways, fundamentally different from face-to-face instruction (see, for example, Lee 2003; McCormack and Jones 1998; Palloff and Pratt 1999). For instance, instructors are unlikely to simply post their lecture notes online in the hope that the students will read, take notes, memorize, and retain the information, which would be the closest equivalent to a traditional lecture classroom. Consequently, it cannot be assumed that different instructional modes (such as lectures or online instruction) necessarily have the same learner outcomes. This lack of knowledge concerning the effects of online instruction on learner outcomes also extends to the question of gender equality.Authors are listed in reverse alphabetical order. We gratefully acknowledge financial support for both the redesign and the evaluation of the course from the Pew Learning and Technology Program, Center for Academic Transformation, Pew Grant Program in Course Redesign.

Type
THE TEACHER
Information
PS: Political Science & Politics , Volume 39 , Issue 2 , April 2006 , pp. 335 - 339
Copyright
© 2006 The American Political Science Association

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