Article

Information Literacy Successes Compared: Online vs. Face to Face

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Abstract

This paper compares the results of a comprehensive exam taken by undergraduates enrolled in face-to-face and online sections of a three–credit course in information literacy. Authors discuss choosing, adapting, and implementing the comprehensive exam. Questions are mapped to the ACRL Competency Standards for Information Literacy for Higher Education to assess the effectiveness of the course. Preliminary results indicate that online students performed slightly better than their face-to-face counterparts.

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... Pucel & Stertz 2005;Ury 2004) or online tuition (e.g. Burkhardt, Kinnie & Cournoyer 2008;Detwiler 2008;Liu 2005). One possible explanation for these conflicting findings is that research examining the effectiveness of online learning relative to conventional face-to-face classroom instruction was conducted with different subjects having differing characteristics. ...
... Finally, the third line of research suggests that, in terms of students' learning outcomes, online courses are superior to conventional in-class instruction (Burkhardt, Kinnie & Cournoyer 2008;Culbertson & Smith 2003;Detwiler 2008;Johnson, Burnett & Rolling 2002;Liu 2005;Maki & Maki 2000). ...
Thesis
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The past decade has seen almost exponential growth in online course offerings across the globe and online courses have now become ubiquitous. However, our current understanding of the effectiveness of this mode of delivery in learning, especially when compared to traditional face-to-face classroom instruction, remains insufficient. In fact, researchers have been engaged in an extended debate over the effectiveness of ‘online’ versus traditional ‘face-to-face’ classroom instruction. As part of this ongoing debate, there is now extensive research into the respective merits of these forms of instruction. This particular study responds to some gaps in this research. The first gap is that much of this work represents science-related subjects and relatively few studies concern the teaching and learning of foreign languages, such as English. Second, whereas there is a plethora of research outside Indonesia, relatively little, if any, has been conducted with student populations from this country, thus limiting our understanding of the merit of new technology in this particular context. Conducted in Indonesia, this study examines students’ learning experiences and learning outcomes in three different modes of delivery: conventional face-to-face, online, and hybrid instruction. Students across the three groups reported that they had experienced an interesting learning experience, a high level of interactivity, and quality learning. However, the online group reported more negative experiences than the other two groups, both in terms of types and frequency. Interestingly, it also reported unique positive learning experiences not found elsewhere. In terms of learning outcomes, as indicated by students’ pre- and post-test scores, all groups experienced a significant increase in their post-test scores. The difference in the groups’ post-test scores, after controlling for pre-existing differences in the pre-test, proved to be insignificant. This finding provides strong support for the well-known ‘nonsignificant phenomenon’, but offers new insights into the merit of new technology in the EFL classroom in this particular context. Overall, both students’ learning experience and their learning outcomes lead to the conclusion that online learning appears to be a viable mode of instruction, despite it being more challenging than hybrid and face-to-face tuition. The implications of these findings for the integration of technology into the language classroom have been critically examined in this thesis.
... Specifically, although some studies found no significant differences between the course formats in learning outcomes (Lim et al., 2007;Neuhauser, 2010), others found that students reported higher achievements and performance in online learning (Burkhardt, Kinnie, & Cournoyer, 2008;Connolly, MacArthur, Stansfiled, & McLesslan, 2007;Lim, Kim, Chen, & Ryder, 2008;Navarro & Shoemaker, 2000). Moreover, similar results were found in studies, which examined differences in final grades and satisfaction among students who participated in different methods (F2F or online) of the same course. ...
... Moreover, these benefits are also reflected in a more objective measurement-students' grades, which were higher, in general, in the online courses compared to the F2F courses. These findings support those of previous studies, which found higher outcomes in online courses compared with F2F courses (Burkhardt et al., 2008;Connolly et al., 2007;Lim et al., 2008). However, it should be noted that the findings of this study are not in line with previous studies that indicated no differences between F2F and online courses (Lim et al., 2007;Neuhauser, 2010;Russell, 1999), or even greater benefits for the F2F courses regarding learning outcomes, engagement, and satisfaction (Summers, Waigandt, & Whittaker, 2005). ...
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This study examined the effectiveness of 3 online courses compared with the same 3 courses in a face‐to‐face (F2F) format, which had the same characteristics (e.g., the same instructor and final exam content and place). Effectiveness was examined by utilizing a wide range of variables, including 2 objective measures ( N = 968): grades and completion rate; and 9 subjective measures ( N = 360): 7 measures include instructional aspects (course structure, learning content, lessons watched, assignments, communication), engagement, and satisfaction. Findings indicate significant differences between online and F2F courses in most of the examined variables. Students in the online courses reported better understanding of the course structure, better communication with the course staff, watching the videos lessens more, and higher engagement and satisfaction. Students in the F2F courses reported better contribution of the learning content. Students' final grades were higher in the online courses, and no differences were found in the completion rate. The findings suggest that in many of the examined effectiveness aspects, online courses are as effective as, or more effective than, F2F courses. Interpretations of the findings are discussed.
... Previous studies investigated the impact of online teaching and learning activities compared with face-to-face learning but there is yet to have conclusive consensus on which one is more effective. Some supported that offline teaching yielded better attentiveness, better understanding level and communication with teachers [1]; while some were more inclined to online teaching as it delivered better outcome and generated higher engagement and satisfaction [2][3][4][5]. However, most of the research, regardless of study discipline, focused on regular, large-size lecture; few have evaluated the effectiveness of small-group peer-assisted learning. ...
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This paper first compares the academic performance of business students who participated in online and offline peer-assisted learning during 2018–2022. The purpose of the study was to evaluate if quantitative academic result was impacted by the mode of delivery. Interviews were then conducted with students who attended/taught both modes of classes to solicit their personal qualitative feedback. Key research questions and issues to be studied include: (1) any objective difference in academic performance (as measured in course GPA) between students attending online and face-to-face sessions; (2) any perceptible difference in learning effectiveness; and (3) any perceptible difference in communication with both leaders and peers during class. After investigation, it was found that both delivery modes offered a similar level of student academic performance and learning experience, and there was no evidence to suggest that peer-assisted learning was impacted by the mode of delivery. Reasons could be concluded as small class size, high level of technological literacy, and voluntariness. Though student interviewees mostly agreed that both online and face-to-face peer-assisted learning were equally effective, if they were to choose between the two, all of them would opt for physical classes as they stimulated greater learning motivation.
... Other studies indicate that students experiencing conventional instruction outperformed those in online section 10,11 . Still, in other studies, students learning online perform better that those learning conventionally 3,12 . ...
Conference Paper
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The advent of online and hybrid learning in the English as a Foreign Language classroom has sparked an extended debate. This paper aims to contribute to this ongoing debate by scrutinizing the effectiveness of the three different instructional methods: online, hybrid, and conventional face-to-face classrooms for the teaching of English grammar in the EFL setting. Students in online sections reported more challenges than those in the hybrid and face-to-face sections. The implications of this study are discussed in this paper.
... Many authors have investigated the effectiveness of video lectures, primarily in comparison with face-to-face classes, with mixing results: some found no significant differences between online and face-to-face courses (Lim et al., 2007;Neuhauser, 2002;Nemetz et al., 2017), while others suggested higher outcomes in online courses (Soffer and Nachmias, 2018;Burkhardt et al., 2008;Connolly et al., 2007;Lim et al., 2008). The Covid-19 pandemic has magnified and accelerated the surge of online teaching, in a way that makes the change hardly reversible. ...
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This book includes 40 peer-reviewed short papers submitted to the Scientific Conference titled Statistics and Information Systems for Policy Evaluation, aimed at promoting new statistical methods and applications for the evaluation of policies and organized by the Association for Applied Statistics (ASA) and the Dept. of Statistics, Computer Science, Applications DiSIA “G. Parenti” of the University of Florence, jointly with the partners AICQ (Italian Association for Quality Culture), AICQ-CN (Italian Association for Quality Culture North and Centre of Italy), AISS (Italian Academy for Six Sigma), ASSIRM (Italian Association for Marketing, Social and Opinion Research), Comune di Firenze, the SIS – Italian Statistical Society, Regione Toscana and Valmon – Evaluation & Monitoring.
... These factors include theoretical models of learning, the development levels of the technology, educators' attitudes towards online learning, positive institutional support for online learning, organization of online formats, and student personality and character preferences (Barclay, Donalds, & Osei-Bryson, 2018;Denis & Hubert, 2001;Klobas, Renzi, Francescato, & Renzi, 2002;Vu, Cao, Vu, & Cepero, 2014). Some studies have found that online learning can be more effective than the traditional F2F instructional delivery format (Burkhardt, Kinnie, & Cournoyer, 2008;Campbell, 2019;Francescato et al., 2006;Qiu & Mcdougall, 2013;Soffer & Nachmias, 2018;Toven-Lindsey, Rhoads, & Lozano, 2015). However, a review directly investigating TSE and student outcomes titled Teacher self-efficacy in online education: a review of the literature, found that an empirical validation between the association of TSE and student success for the online instructional delivery format is not as strong as for the F2F instructional delivery format (Corry & Stella, 2018). ...
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... They concluded that the students who took the online comprehensive final exam performed at least as well as the students in the face-to-face sections. However, they noted that the small number of students in the online classes (a total of 23 students in two sections) could exaggerate the percent of students who got a question correct or incorrect (Burkhardt et al., 2008). ...
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... A comparison of the learning outcomes of students in an online information literacy credit course and the same course offered face-to-face at the University of Rhode Island showed that the online students performed as well as students in the face-to-face course. 21 An earlier iteration of the information literacy assessment at URI Libraries and faculty anecdotes demonstrated that the credit course was valuable in gaining information literacy competencies. 22 Mulherrin et al. 23 describes the impact of a required online credit course at the University of Maryland University College that was developed for the General Education Program. ...
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... Yang (2009) randomly surveyed 100 academic libraries in the USA and found that one-third of these libraries have developed their own IL online tutorials. Research (Burkhardt, Kinnie & Cournoyer, 2008;Means et al., 2009) showed that students involved in online learning performed as well and possibly a little better than those who learned in face-to-face sessions. Therefore this study further confirms the emerging trend of online IL education. ...
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