A Comparative Study on the Impact of Satisfaction of Content on Gaining Knowledge between Online and Classroom Learning

Introduction

Around the world, online classes have become increasingly prevalent in institutions of higher education. The occurrence has been aided by the developments in the computing world where the use of the internet has become widespread. As a consequent, there has been the unprecedented growth of the application of technology in tutoring. The technology has facilitated the development of online classes, which has served instances where learning institutions have faced constraints regarding spaces and where students face distance constraints. In spite of the occurrence where the growth of virtual instructional methodologies has been expansive, their effectiveness in disseminating content for purposes of gaining knowledge cannot be ascertained. The event creates doubt on whether the outcomes of online classes can match that of classroom learning. The focus of this study was to undertake a comparative study of the impact of satisfaction of content on gaining knowledge between online and classroom teaching. The comparisons will encompass how students rate their instructor's support, the offered levels of interaction, how they evaluate the instruction methodology and the flexibility that they attain. The comparisons will also encompass the grades the students score in the final examinations, the student's perception of what they have grasped in the course, the student's attitude their employability and quality of their courses.

Literature Review

Previous research findings indicate online classes can be as effective as classroom learning. The assertion can be affirmed by a study conducted by the U. S Department of Education (2010) which conducted a systematic review of literature issued in 12 years. The results of their research were that distance learning which was facilitated by the use of technology did not have significant differences from regular classroom teaching when assessed for effectiveness. The study also found out that respondents who were part or all of their education online did exhibit better performance compared to those who undertook face to face classes with their instructors. The finding was supported by another study conducted by Swan (2003) which stated that there were no important differences between the outcomes of undergraduates who undertook virtual learning compared to persons who took conventional classroom tutoring. Students who conducted both online course delivery and classroom delivery did not exhibit any differences in the outcomes of the studies.

The findings by the United States Department of Education were also supported by another study, which measured the performance dissimilarities of students who undertook online classes and traditional learning. In their research, Shachar and Neumann (2010) found out that learners who engaged in virtual learning did better than learners who were part of conventional classroom learning. The investigators also predicted the probability that the trend will further continue in the future. In another study, the researcher, Neuhauser (2002) investigated the instructional methodology and the efficiency of virtual as well as conventional classroom tutoring. The result of the investigation was that there exist no substantial variances among exams test scores, participation grade and assignment. The study also pointed out that online courses averaged slightly higher compared to face to face tutoring. The researcher also discovered that similar learning activities and procedures had similar rates of efficacy amongst virtual learning and conventional teacher-student classes. On the contrary, some studies report that conventional teacher-student classes are more effective than virtual learning. Examples of such studies include those conducted by Brown and Leidholm, 2002, Figlio, Rush & Yin, 2010, and Parsons-Pollard, Lacks & Grant, 2008.

A student who takes part in online classes report that they find them to provide them will more flexibility than face-to-face classes. They state that online courses provide them with enhancing control of the location and time they wish to complete their coursework. The occurrence thus makes online classes a favorite for students, who reside far from the learning institution or would like to study on a part-time basis (Schwartzman, 2007).

It seems that there is lack of uniformity in outcomes regarding knowledge gained when comparing conventional teacher-student classes and virtual learning methods. A study conducted by Koory (2003), investigated the outcome concerning knowledge gained between students who undertook classroom learning and online learning. Her research results stated that classroom learning exhibited higher levels of knowledge gained compared to online learning. However, research by Mentzer, Cryan, and Teclehaimanot (2007) indicated that on the contrary students who study using online course delivery reported gaining higher levels of knowledge compared to their counterparts. Other studies by Clark and Jones (2001) and Hollerbach and Mims (2007) which assert that there are no momentous variances amongst the levels of knowledge gained between virtual course delivery and conventional teacher-student classes delivery further complicated the findings.

Research Questions

The ensuing study queries were used in the study:

How do students rate their instructor's support?

What is the level of interaction that students are exposed to?

How do they rate the instruction methodology?

How much flexibility do they attain from their course delivery method?

What was their score on the recent final examinations?

What is the students' perception of the information they have grasped in the courses?

What is the students' perception of their employability?

What is the students' perception of the quality of their instruction models?

Methodology

The aims of this research are to study the impact of satisfaction of content on gaining knowledge between virtual and conventional teacher-student classes. A type of non-probability sampling known as opportunity sampling was used to obtain respondents in the research. The study sought twelve participants, six of who were taking online classes at the time or had taken online classed before and another six who had earlier taken or were taking online classes at the time. All the respondents were recruited by asking them if they were interested in taking part in the research. They were recruited by sending emails to an education arts course that pertained both students taking online classes and classroom learning. The first twelve students who responded to the email were asked to access a link to a survey posted online. On the first page of the survey as a consent declaration form and a short paragraph assuring the research's respect for confidentiality and ethical issues. The next two pages were a set of a close-ended questionnaire where the participants were to answer the questions.

The measures of student satisfaction that were used in the study included how the students rated their instructors, levels of interaction, a rating of instruction methodology and flexibility attained. On the other hand, the measures used in measuring knowledge included the students' score in the final exams, the students' perception about the information they grasped from courses, their perception about their employability and their perception on the quality of their courses. In the research, the independent variable was student satisfaction while the dependent variable was knowledge gained.

The measures were used in creating the research questions. The research questions were then used to create the questionnaire provided to respondents. The questionnaires read as follows:

1. How do you rate instructor support?
2. What is the level of interaction with other students and instructors are you exposed to?
3. How do you rate the instruction methodology?
4. How much flexibility do you attain from the course delivery method?
5. What was your score on the recent final examinations?
6. What is your perception of the information you have grasped in the courses?
7. What is your perception of your employability?
8. What is your perception of the quality of the instruction models?

All the research questions were answered using a five-point scale of 1 to 5. The scale applied is as shown below.

The following questionnaire was used to measure responses to questions 2, 7 and 6

1	2	3	4	5
Very Low	Low	Neutral	High	Very High

The following scale was used to measure responses to questions 4.

1	2	3	4	5
Very Inflexible	Inflexible	Neutral	Flexible	Very Flexible

The following scale was used to measure responses to questionnaire 1, 3, and 8.

1	2	3	4	5
Very Dissatisfied	Dissatisfied	Neutral	Satisfied	Very satisfied

The following scale was used to measure responses in questionnaire 5.

2.7	3.0	3.3	3.7	4.0
B-	B	B+	A-	A

Research Findings

The findings below were organized as per the research questions, which were used to guide the questionnaire. The results include a comparison between the response provided by students taking online classes and those going through classroom learning. The results provided information in two areas, which are the student satisfaction and gaining knowledge. The results were reported based on the mean of responses in all categories. The results were automatically computed using the website that collected the data.

Student Satisfaction

As indicated earlier, the measures of student satisfaction that were used in the study included how the students rated their instructor's support, levels of interaction, a rating of instruction methodology and flexibility attained.

Rating of Instructor's Support

In the online classes, the mean of the 3 out of 5 meaning that on average the respondent felt that instructor support was neutral. Conversely, students who learn in classrooms reported a mean of 4 out of 5, which denoted that they were satisfied with the instructor support.

Level of Interaction

Students who took online classes reported a mean of 2 which denoted low. Conversely, classroom-learning students reported a mean of 5 which was high.

Rating of Instruction Methodology

On average students who took both online classes and face to learning reported mean of 4 which showed that they were satisfied with the learning methodology.

Flexibility Attained

In the online class, respondent's reported a mean of 5 which implied that they attained the highest level of flexibility while students who underwent face-to-face learning reported a mean of 2 which was inflexible.

Gaining Knowledge

As indicated earlier the measures used in measuring knowledge included the students' score in the final exams, the students' perception about the information they grasped from courses, their perception about their employability and their perception on the quality of their instruction models.

The Score on the Final Exam

Students taking on the online class did report an average of 3.3 in their GPA, which represented a B+. Similarly, students who took the face-to-face learning also reported a GPA of 3.3, which also represented a B+.

Perception of the Information Grasped

Students who took the online class reported an average of 3 which is neutral regarding the amount of information grasped. Similarly, students who undertook face to face tutoring reported an average of 3.

Student Perception of Employability

Students who took online classes reported an average of 3 regarding how much they were perceived to be employable. On the other hand, students who undertook face to face tutoring reported an average of 4.

Perception of the Quality of Instruction Models

Lastly, students who took both online and face to face tutoring reported an average of 4 of their perception of qualit...