Location
Natural Resource Room 109
Event Website
http://uenr.warnercnr.colostate.edu
Start Date
3-24-2012 8:30 AM
End Date
3-24-2012 9:00 AM
Description
Criticisms of online science courses are rooted in the lack to of hands-on learning experiences only available in the face-to-face (f2f) environment. Very few studies have compared student learning outcomes (e.g., assignment, exam, and final grades; level of learning achieved) and student satisfaction between online and f2f courses in the science curriculum, and none of these studies has been done for applied natural resources courses. We are currently conducting a quasi-experiment to compare student learning outcomes and satisfaction for online and f2f versions of two introductory wildlife and fisheries sciences course at South Dakota State University (WL 220: Introduction to Wildlife and Fisheries and WL 230: Wildlife and Fisheries Techniques). To date, we have documented demographic differences between online and face-to-face students in the two courses. Online students tend to be older, have full-time employment, be more experienced in the online environment, and identify themselves more as visual learners than f2f students. Some differences in learning outcomes have been associated with time spent in learning activities within each environment. In the online WL 230 course, the average time spent per week on course tasks was positively associated with overall course grade and individual scores received on assignments related to applying, analyzing, and evaluating information. Time spent outside of class was negatively related to overall course grade in the f2f environment, but class attendance was positively related to course grade and scores on individual assignments that emphasized applying, analyzing, and evaluating information. Insights gleaned from this study may be used to improve and expand online applied natural resources courses. Expansion of these courses may be vital as applied natural resources curricula have been lost nationwide, but these types of knowledge are still very much in demand.
You Can’t Teach Wildlife and Fisheries Online, Can You? A Comparison of Student Learning and Satisfaction in Two Online and Face-to-Face Courses
Natural Resource Room 109
Criticisms of online science courses are rooted in the lack to of hands-on learning experiences only available in the face-to-face (f2f) environment. Very few studies have compared student learning outcomes (e.g., assignment, exam, and final grades; level of learning achieved) and student satisfaction between online and f2f courses in the science curriculum, and none of these studies has been done for applied natural resources courses. We are currently conducting a quasi-experiment to compare student learning outcomes and satisfaction for online and f2f versions of two introductory wildlife and fisheries sciences course at South Dakota State University (WL 220: Introduction to Wildlife and Fisheries and WL 230: Wildlife and Fisheries Techniques). To date, we have documented demographic differences between online and face-to-face students in the two courses. Online students tend to be older, have full-time employment, be more experienced in the online environment, and identify themselves more as visual learners than f2f students. Some differences in learning outcomes have been associated with time spent in learning activities within each environment. In the online WL 230 course, the average time spent per week on course tasks was positively associated with overall course grade and individual scores received on assignments related to applying, analyzing, and evaluating information. Time spent outside of class was negatively related to overall course grade in the f2f environment, but class attendance was positively related to course grade and scores on individual assignments that emphasized applying, analyzing, and evaluating information. Insights gleaned from this study may be used to improve and expand online applied natural resources courses. Expansion of these courses may be vital as applied natural resources curricula have been lost nationwide, but these types of knowledge are still very much in demand.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/9thBiennial/Sessions/41
Comments
Citation: Wuellner, MR, Willis, DW, Peterson, D, Tidemann, G. 2012. You Can’t Teach Wildlife and Fisheries Online, Can You? A Comparison of Student Learning and Satisfaction in Two Online and Face-to-Face Courses. UENR 9th Biennial Conference. http://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cuenr/9thBiennial/Sessions/41