Physics – General Physics
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011aas...21833313s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #218, #333.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 43, 2011
Physics
General Physics
Scientific paper
The validity and rigor of online courses is an open question in higher education, with each institution applying different interpretations of grades received and making different decisions about whether online courses should be accepted in the transfer process. These discrepancies in institutional opinion are at times based upon the realities of variety in instructional methods or student self-selection into a course they view as an "easy A", but at times they do a disservice to online classes and students.
Quinsigamond Community College, located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is now offering an online section of freshman calculus-based mechanics (General Physics I, PHY 105). During Spring 2011, the author teaches both the online and on-ground sections of the course. Content in the online section is communicated by videos recorded during class sessions in Spring 2010, and both sections perform on-ground labs and take quizzes and exams on-ground.
The author is currently studying student outcomes in the two sections to determine the effectiveness of instruction in the different modalities. Preliminary findings will be presented, including analysis of grades in quizzes, online homework (MasteringPhysics), and labs, and comparisons of student problem solving methods and visual representations of problems (such as Free Body Diagrams). The effect of self-selection will also be investigated using open-ended surveys and pretests. Sample size of the two courses consisted of approximately 20 students online and 25 on-ground, with the students commingled into two lab sections of approximately equal size.
Support for this project was provided by Quinsigamond Community College. This project received approval by QCC's Institutional Review Board; data presented are either in aggregate form, or are used with informed consent of the participants.
No associations
LandOfFree
A Comparison of Online and On-Ground Student Performance in Calculus-based Physics I does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with A Comparison of Online and On-Ground Student Performance in Calculus-based Physics I, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and A Comparison of Online and On-Ground Student Performance in Calculus-based Physics I will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1743046