Assignment 6, Annotation

Neuhauser, C. (2002).Learning style and effectiveness of online and face to face instruction. American Journal of Distance Education. 16, No. 2, 99-113.

The purpose of the study was to compare the attrition rate of student enrollment in online courses versus courses that are offered with face to face instruction. The interest in this research arose out of a study that concluded that over 90% of institutions already offered or were planning to offer online instruction.

The framework of the study considers criteria to determine possibles correlates with attrition rate. It entails demographics of the students involved in the study, including age, gender, ethnicity and learning style. The study cites four different learning styles that may impact the outcomes of the study: Concrete Experience, Abstract Conceptualization, Reflective Observation and Active Experimentation. The study hypothesiced that learning style would have a strong impact on students' attrition rate between the two programs.

The Methodology involved working with 216 Doctoral Students who began working on their Doctoral program between 1993-1998, and were given seven years to complete the program. Whether students were enrolled in fact to face or in online classes was voluntary. From these students, information related to sex, age and ethnicity was collected. Additionally, The Kolb Learning Style Inventory was administered to determine four types of learning styles. To determine if learning style was a factor, they entered data into a logistic regression equation to analyze and compare data.

The research concluded that there were no statistically significant differences between online and face to face classes with respect to sex, age or ethnicity. Additionally, when applying the logistic regression equation to the data to determine a correlation between learning style and attrition rate, a 62% correlation was determined - too week to draw valid conclusions for the purpose of research.

At the end of the study, consideration was given to the idea that Doctoral students are likely to have a higher level of motivation than other college level students. This can be a significant factor when considering that no differences were found in any of the categories studied.

This article is relevant to our current course in a few key ways. First, it highlights how early in the research phase we are in for online instruction. While looking for correlates between different demographics and attrition, little consideration was given to the types or quality of courses offered online. These considerations will likely have wait once more conclusive research is conducted that determines particular factors which result in higher attrition rates for online courses - if any exist.

Second, I thought that the model and methodology of the research was well constructed in all but one sense: I believe that results could have been different if younger students in bachelor or secondary education programs had be used. Such a research model could be adopted and adapted for a different student demographic to determine if such considerations impacted student attrition. If such research were to be conducted and determine that consideration, such as ethnicity and learning styles had an impact on attrition, further research could ascertain what qualities of online classes needed improvement to address all different learning styles. It is these considerations that assist me in forming both my research question and research design.

Jeff Burke