PERCEPTIONS OF COURSE GOAL COMPLETION: A COMPARISON OF STUDENTS ENROLLED IN A WEB-BASED VERSUS A TRADITIONAL CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT
Genie Black, Arkansas Tech University
One hundred and eighty-four students enrolled in a management course were asked to evaluate their perceptions of course goal completion in either (a) a traditional, face-to-face classroom setting or (b) in an online, virtual classroom setting. Each student completed a survey covering demographics, and a variety of items relating to course goal completion for the areas of management functions, manager’s environment, and management theory. A comparison of student perceptions across type of course indicated that older students perceive a higher level of course goal completion than do younger students. Analysis of variance yielded a significant main effect for age and a significant interaction effect for age by course goal completion. T-tests indicated that students enrolled in the online version of the course perceived higher levels of course goal completion for the composite measure "understanding the manager’s environment" than did students enrolled in the traditional version of the course. Implications of the findings are presented.
Introduction
Just as technology has defined and shaped the workplace, the Internet is shaping education (Hammonds, 1998). The growth of the World Wide Web (WWW) and its increasing ease of use has made the Internet an extremely attractive tool for course delivery (Powers, 1997). Today, students from virtually anywhere can now enroll in web-based courses.
From the perspective of educators and administrators, web-based courses are an option for relieving scheduling problems for courses and classrooms. In addition, web classes can be a good public relations tool for non-traditional students, offering them added flexibility in managing their school and home environments. From the student=s perspective, web-based courses provide opportunities to students who are otherwise unable to take courses on a university campus. Virtual course delivery also provides students with exposure to an alternative learning environment (Powers, 1997), and teaches the students skills that are often valued in the workplace. Although many institutions of higher learning have been reluctant to embark on this form of distance learning, the number of Internet course offerings is expanding at a rapid pace (Black, 2001).
Internet courses enable students to acquire a variety of skills that have typically not been incorporated into traditional classroom settings. Conducting research on the Internet and functioning in virtual team environments are examples of skill development that can occur in a well-structured online course. Such skills are in high demand in most organizations today, thus enhancing the likelihood that the student will be an attractive job candidate upon graduation. Furthermore, Internet technology has linked students to the world in an unprecedented way. It has created a truly global environment that allows students to interact with individuals from many different societies, thus greatly improving their awareness and appreciation of culture in today=s global world (Vess, 1997). Internet courses also provide an unparalleled environment for collaborative learning, expanding the classroom setting beyond student-teacher interactions to synergistic explorations in diverse group settings (Holt, 1998). Students enrolled in Internet courses also learn to adapt to a faster paced and higher level of stimulation in teaching than is afforded by traditional courses. They learn to generate questions, to work in Avirtual@ teams, to create and design, and to hone their interpersonal skills via the high level of communication demanded in online courses (Hammond, 1998).
As software functionality has evolved over the past two decades, it has enabled individuals in both academic and business settings to create virtual classrooms to support distance education. Virtual classrooms allow us to utilize the capabilities of a computer for tailoring a human communication process to the nature of a specific application as well as to the nature of the individuals or groups undertaking the application (Hiltz & Turoff, 1985, 1993; Turoff, 1991). The goal in designing a virtual classroom is not to merely duplicate the effectiveness and characteristics of the traditional face-to-face classroom. Rather, it is to use the powers of the computer to actually do better than what normally occurs in the traditional classroom setting.
The flexibility and sophistication of today’s software for supporting distance education varies from simple electronic mail systems to conferencing systems that are specially enhanced to support classroom-like experiences. This is particularly true for group discussions and joint projects (Wells, 1990). Thus, the virtual classroom is a learning and teaching environment located within a computer-mediated communication system. The objectives of a virtual classroom are (1) to improve access to advanced educational experiences by allowing instructors and students to participate in distance learning communities using personal computers at home or on campus and (2) to improve the effectiveness and quality of education by utilizing computers to support a collaborative learning process. Such collaborative processes emphasize cooperative or group efforts among students and faculty, active interaction and participation on the part of both instructors and students, and new knowledge that emerges from an active dialog among those who share ideas and information (Bouton & Garth, 1983; Whipple, 1987). Studies on the use of computer-mediated communication facilities that form essential components of a virtual classroom have tended to support the perspective that for mature, motivated learners, this mode of learning can be more effective and more interactive than a traditional classroom experience (Black, 2001; Hiltz, 1993, 1994).
Goal setting can be a highly motivating tool in the classroom when students consciously set the goals they want to achieve. A goal refers to specific outcomes to be achieved. Research on how to set goals in order to motivate people suggests four guidelines. The first of these involves setting goals that are clear and specific. Individuals who are given specific goals tend to perform better than those who do not receive specific goals. Second, the goals that are established must be measurable and verifiable. Thus, goals should be stated in quantitative terms and should embody target deadlines for accomplishment. Third, established goals should be challenging but realistic. Goals that are set too high invariably lead to failure and demotivation in students. Finally, goals should be set participatively. Research indicates that participation in goal setting tends to result in higher performance (Latham & Yukl, 1964; Latham & Mitchell, 1978).
Method
A total of 184 students enrolled in Management and Organizational Behavior were asked their perceptions on the extent to which course goals were met. One group of students was enrolled in the web-based version of the course (N = 95); the other group completed the course in a traditional classroom setting with access to a computer lab for completing assignments (N = 100). To facilitate comparison among the groups the same textbook, assignments, tests and software were used. Throughout the course, students were required to participate in collaborative tasks and critical thinking and problem solving exercises designed to enhance the student’s understanding of course material.
A survey was developed to assess student perceptions of course goal completion. The demographic section of the survey contained seven items: class standing, gender, age, classification (traditional versus nontraditional), number of hours employed outside of school, expected grade for the course, and previous experience with online courses. For demographic items, students were asked to circle the most appropriate response. Subsequent sections of the survey focused on various factors of course goal completion for three broad course areas: management functions, the manager’s environment and management theory. Survey items pertaining to management functions assessed the student’s perception of goal achievement as it related to gaining an advanced understanding of managerial planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Factors assessed in the management functions section targeted the extent to which the student successfully gained an understanding of internal (e.g., employees, stakeholders, suppliers, etc.) and external (e.g., economy, technology, globalization, government/politics, etc.) forces that exert an influence on the manager. Items related to management theory evaluated the extent to which the student understood and could apply theoretical concepts pertaining to communication, motivation, leadership, and so forth. Finally, students were asked to rate the effectiveness of the medium for learning (virtual versus face-to-face) and their overall satisfaction with the course.
For students enrolled in the traditional classroom sections of the course, surveys were distributed in their classes. Students enrolled in the online sections of the course received their surveys via a virtual classroom. All students were asked to respond to a series of statements directly reflecting the goals of the course as stated in the course syllabi. A five-point Likert scale was used for the response format. Scale values ranged from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5).
The following hypotheses were postulated for this study:
Older students would perceive higher levels of course goal completion than would younger students.
Students enrolled in the online version of the course would perceive equal or higher levels of course goal completion when compared to students enrolled in the traditional classroom version of the course.
Results
Composite measures were created for the variables of management functions, manager’s environment and management theory. Inter-item reliability coefficients were calculated for each composite measure. Chronbach’s alphas were found to be acceptable for the measures, ranging from .63 to .71.
Frequency data were calculated for all survey items. Approximately half of the students who participated in the study were male (47%) and half female (53%); approximately one quarter of the students categorized themselves as nontraditional (22%). Eighty-seven percent of the students were classified as juniors and 13 percent were seniors. The mean age of respondents was 25.6 years and the majority (72%) worked between 10 and 20 hours in an off-campus job. Overall, the majority of students strongly agreed or agreed that upon completion of the course (a) they understood the basic management functions of planning, organizing, leading and controlling (87%); they understood the impact that government, legal, cultural, political, economic and technological environments have on managers (79%); they understood theories of management (81%); and they were able to successfully applying their learning to the experiential exercises required in the course (82%).
Table 2 shows significant correlations for the composite measures across effectiveness of the medium used for presentation and overall satisfaction with the course. Students enrolled in the virtual sections of the course were significantly more satisfied with their goal achievement for the areas of management functions and manager’s environment than were students enrolled in the traditional sections of the course.
Table 3 presents the total means for respondents by gender and age across student goals. Subsequent t-tests indicate that older students --over 25 years of age -- reported a higher perception of goal achievement than did the youngest students --under 20 years of age (t = 0.36; p < .05). A subsequent analysis of variance (refer to Table 4) indicated a significant main effect for age. In addition, a significant interaction effect was found for age by perception of goal completion.
Analyses comparing type of class by perceptions of goal achievement (refer to Table 5) indicate no significant differences between students enrolled in traditional classroom settings compared to students enrolled in a web-based course for the areas of management functions and management theory. A significant difference, however, was found for understanding the environment in which managers work (t = 3.80, p < .05). This difference indicates that students attending the web-based class perceived higher levels of goal achievement than did students in the traditional classroom setting for the course.
Discussion
Results of this study do lend support for the hypotheses that were examined. Older students did perceive higher levels of course goal completion for the content area of manager’s environment. It is likely that this finding stems, at least in part, from the assumption that older students tend to be more motivated when taking courses at the higher education level than are younger students. In addition, students in the online version of the course perceived goal completion at a level equal to (for the management functions and management theory composites) or greater than (for manager’s environment) students enrolled in the traditional version of the course. In this instance, the online course provided students with a rich medium of presentation that may have contributed to an overall better perception of course goal completion.
Course design must focus on facilitating a student=s ability to learn while considering the context of the learning environment itself (Gagne, et. al., 1988; Merrill, 1994). Although students enrolled in a web-based course do not receive the same experience as students in traditional classroom instruction, the results of this study suggest that they leave the course with the same, or higher, knowledge base. Accomplishing this, however, means that a web-based course must be critically designed to ensure that it provides an enhanced learning experience for students working via the Internet. The results further suggest that the major components of basic instructional design, as they apply to the achievement of course goals, can be successfully related to web-based course development.
Of note in this study is the fact that the assessment methods used for the web-based course versus the traditional classroom course were identical. Students received personal feedback from the instructor on a regular basis, they received team feedback for class projects, they were assessed on writing and comprehension skills, as well as application of text material to hands-on experiential exercises. Students in both classes also had the opportunity, and were encouraged, to tap into the knowledge and skills of their classmates to facilitate learning. This sharing of knowledge appeared to be far easier for students in the web-based classes since they were able to send their problems and queries to all students in the class at one time by using a list server that functioned as a web-based classroom.
As a result of global competition, the "high-tech" age, and excessive travel expenses; many people today work in virtual environments that transcend time zones, organizational boundaries and distance. The virtual workplace is evolving as a way to make working across geographical regions a practical and easy approach to achieving superior results. Planning and design are the keys to successfully virtual work environments. Virtual workplaces offer a relatively new way of working that is increasingly becoming the standard for many organizations. They provide opportunities to improve processes, exchange practices and build new knowledge in the course of conducting business.
In order to prepare our business students today for the work world they will enter tomorrow, it is incumbent upon educators that they not only provide the knowledge base required for successful performance in a specified field of study, but also that they prepare the student for the transition to new ways of communicating and interfacing in the business community. Students who lack skills ranging from simple e-mailing to teleconferencing will find themselves at a disadvantage when they begin their job search. Today's businesses are seeking individuals who come to the workplace with such skills in place, thus minimizing the time an organization must take to train deficient workers.
While critics may suggest that virtual classrooms only function to deliver knowledge through a different medium, the successful virtual classroom actually functions to enhance student learning by offering an enlarged base of resources via the Internet and by creation of a "network" of learning. Such learning networks, of course, do not happen on their own. Virtual courses must be carefully designed to assure that they provide the student with advanced opportunities to learn via appropriate instructional strategies which must be incorporated into the course (i.e., tutorials, help sites, class discussion and participation, resource availability, and so on). The results of this study support the belief that it is not so much how the course information is delivered, but rather that the course design enables the student to demonstrate competency in specified goal areas upon completion of the course.
References
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Table 2
Significant Correlations* for Composite Variables with Outcome Variables
Factors Effectiveness of Medium Overall Satisfaction
Virtual Traditional Virtual Traditional
Management Functions (6) .54 .46 .63* .31
Manager’s Environment (8) .79 .56 .57* .40
Management Theory (8) .34 .42 .55 .51
Table 3
Total Means for Gender Groups Across Course Goals
Course Goals
Mgmt Functions Manager’s Environment Theories
Males
Age = <20 3.22 3.52 3.45
Age = 20-25 3.87 4.11 3.59
Age = >25 4.11 *** 3.97
Females
Age = <20 3.33 3.67 3.56
Age = 20-25 3.88 3.87 3.68
Age = >25 4.02 3.99 ***
*** indicates empty cells
Table 4
Comparison of Means
Source SS df MS F
Main Effects:
Gender 11.895 1 11.895 3.214
Age 2.495 2 1.247 6.043*
Goal Completion 13.569 1 13.569 4.631
Gender X Age 6.35 3 2.199 1.973
Gender X Goal Comp. 8.426 4 2.964 2.568
Age X Goal Comp. 19.412 3 6.541 8.997*
P < .05
Table 5
T-tests: Type of Class by Goal Achievement
Category of Class Type Goal Achievement
Management Functions Management Environment Theories
Traditional 3.29 3.11 3.00
Web-Based 3.54 3.97 3.45
t 1.25 3.80 1.89
Significance .299 .012 .163
P < .05