Factors Affecting Student Performance And Satisfaction In Distance Learning Courses
- Conference
- Location
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Chicago, Illinois
- Publication Date
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June 18, 2006
- Start Date
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June 18, 2006
- End Date
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June 21, 2006
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Page Count
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12
- Page Numbers
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11.631.1 - 11.631.12
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--338
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/338
- Download Count
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8261
Paper Authors
John Carpinelli New Jersey Institute of Technology
John D. Carpinelli is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and previously served as the coordinator of activities at NJIT for the Gateway Engineering Education Coalition and as a member of the Coalition’s Governing Board. He is the author of the textbook Computer Systems Organization and Architecture, which has been adopted for use at over 150 universities in the United States and over 25 countries, and currently chairs NJIT’s Master Teacher Committee.
Raymond Calluori New Jersey Institute of Technology
Dr. Calluori is a Senior Systems Manager for the Office of Institutional Research at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he conducts survey research and manages the course evaluation program. He has published in the social sciences as well as in survey research technology. Currently, he is part of a National Science Foundation funded research project studying jury service and civic behavior.
Vladimir Briller New Jersey Institute of Technology
Vladimir Briller received the Ed.D. from Columbia University in 1995. Currently he is a Director of the Outcomes Assessment at NJIT. His job includes the analysis of course, program, department and school development relating to student outcomes, managing accreditation review and academic program assessment and design and manage outcomes assessment projects and studies on effects of college and university policies and administrative decisions.
Eugene Deess New Jersey Institute of Technology
Perry Deess is the Director of Institutional research and Planning at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His research interests include higher education program assessment, evaluating university performance, and the role of institutions in civic engagement. He is currently collaborating with researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Colorado on an NSF funded, nationwide study of civic engagement.
Kamal Joshi New Jersey Institute of Technology
Kamal Joshi is the HRS Database Manager at New Jersey Institute of Technology. His interests include evaluating student outcomes, program assessment, data streams, and pattern matching. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in computer science at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Factors Affecting Student Performance and Satisfaction in Distance Learning Courses
Abstract
During the past few years, the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) has initiated several projects to determine best practices in distance learning education and to apply them to courses in the Newark College of Engineering. The engineering college has lagged behind other colleges within the university in developing and implementing distance learning courses, and concerns about the quality of distance learning courses are one of the main reasons for this. The Office of Institutional Research and Planning at NJIT has undertaken a study of distance learning courses offered during the 2003-2004 academic year. The study examines a total of 150 courses, 3,491 students and 7,701 course enrollments; approximately 1/5 of the enrollments are in distance learning courses and the remaining students enrolled in traditional face-to-face courses and served as a control group. The study examines a wide variety of parameters, including overall course performance, student satisfaction with the course and the instructor, delivery format for distance learning courses (multimedia, text, multimedia + text), instructor rank, instructor training for distance learning instruction, distance learning platform (WebCT® and WebBoard®), and ease of use of technology. This paper presents the results of this study and how they can be applied to produce improved distance learning courses in the engineering college, in all colleges within NJIT, and at other universities. Among its most significant results, the study highlights the need for instructors to receive training in teaching, learning, and technology; the preference of students for courses that use multiple delivery formats; and the greater student satisfaction at NJIT for courses that use WebCT as their asynchronous learning network platform.
1. Introduction
Since offering its first distance learning courses in the 1970’s, the New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJIT, has been a leader in distance learning education. From its inception, NJIT has emphasized the use of computer-mediated communication systems, or asynchronous learning networks (ALNs), as a means to keep distance learning students engaged in their coursework, to promote a sense of community among classmates, and to improve student learning. The first ALN used at NJIT was the Electronic Information Exchange System, EIES1. This system was expanded and modified to make it web-accessible, and became the Virtual Classroom ® system. More recently, NJIT has been using WebCT ® and WebBoard ® as its ALNs for distance learning courses.
NJIT currently offers a wide variety of distance learning courses and programs. Three complete
Carpinelli, J., & Calluori, R., & Briller, V., & Deess, E., & Joshi, K. (2006, June), Factors Affecting Student Performance And Satisfaction In Distance Learning Courses Paper presented at 2006 Annual Conference & Exposition, Chicago, Illinois. 10.18260/1-2--338
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