Presented by Brian Wolff
Faculty Member in Biology, Normandale Community College
Friday, December 2nd (2011)Room: C1016
12-12:50pm
Abstract: Numerous studies have been conducted to evaluate differences in student performance across online and conventional course delivery platforms. However, relatively little work has been done to evaluate differences in student performance at community and technical colleges, which are likely to draw students with less developed study skills than four-year institutions. I have evaluated ten predictors of student performance in my conventional and online environmental biology courses via multiple and logistic regression analyses and have found that students enrolled in online sections are associated with lower final exam scores and are at significantly higher risk of failure. However, mode of delivery is not a significant predictor of final exam performance and is not the best predictor of a negative outcome, defined as a failure to complete the course or pass the final exam.
Bio: Brian Wolff earned his M.S. in Environmental Biology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth, and his Ph.D. in Conservation Biology at the University of Minnesota. He has been teaching biology, environmental biology, and ecology at the University of Minnesota and Normandale Community College since 1994. Brian has fifteen years of experience as a distance and online instructor. He is the author of several scholarly papers and his research has been published in peer-reviewed pedagogical journals.
