Online versus standard classroom instruction in history

¶ … population, data collection, dependent and independent variables and assumptions. There were six sources used to complete this paper.

The advent of the Internet opened possibilities for society that were never before dreamed possible. Today, with the click of a mouse one can manage stock portfolios, plan and purchase travel, shop without leaving the house and chat with friends around the globe. In addition to the fun and social aspects the Internet has brought to society, it has also served many tangible areas of life by completing tasks that used to be much more complicated. One of the areas that the Internet has expanded is the area of education. Historically high school classes have been taught with a teacher in the room and students at the desks. If a teacher was not available to work in the classroom each day the class was cancelled for the semester. In addition classroom sizes were limited due to space and number of available desks within the physical classroom. One of the things that the Internet provides is the ability to have online classroom instruction (Beard, 2002). On the surface it sounds like the perfect solution. Students are able to work at their own pace and they can structure that learning around their jobs, other courses and family life (Dobrosielski, 2005). Teachers are able to design the course without having to spend each day in a classroom. With the click of a mouse students and teachers can take part in subject without having to worry about classroom space, scheduling conflicts or other problems that are typical for face-to-face instruction (Dobrosielski, 2005). For many it sounds like a perfect solution, however detractors of online education believe it lacks elements that make education valuable. Some of the things that are absent from an online experience according to this group include face-to-face contact, interaction with peers, the ability to ask questions on the spot and the ability for the school to be sure the student is taking his or her own tests and doing the homework instead of having someone do it for them (Dobrosielski, 2005).

These concerns raise questions about how online instruction impacts student performance.

This methodology section will help to design an experiment aimed at testing the academic performance of history students in an online setting and measure it against students who are using a traditional classroom experience for the same class.

Research Question: What effect does course delivery methods have on student performance in history?

Setting

The setting for this research will be two-fold. The study will involve two high school history classes. The classes will be American history and will be at the sophomore level of instruction. The setting will be at the physical location of the high school in which traditional classroom style is used. In addition the setting for the online instructional classroom will be online.

Population

The population for this research will be derived from the high school sophomores that have signed up for American history at each of the high schools being used in the study.

The population will be approximately 400 students with 200 signed up for online courses and the remaining 200 signed up for a traditional classroom experience.

Sample

The sample size in a research population is a smaller number of participants from the larger population.

In the case of this particular study the sample size is going to be the students who are enrolled in the two styles of instruction who also complete the semester final exam in the classroom.

The sample technique that will be used is a random sampling method. The random sampling technique is being used due to several factors.

The first factor that impacts the technique chosen is the fact that the participants are going to be from two different high schools and already enrolled in the American History sophomore level course.

This creates a need to use a random sampling technique for the purpose of this research as the only criteria in the sampling will be enrollment in the class and taking the final exam.

With random sampling there is a risk that the sample participants will not be equal in each instructional method or that the genders, IQ's or other factors will be weighted to one instructional group or the other. However, random methods also produce a participant sampling that is most likely representative of the general population due to the fact that the participants were not selected based on any narrow criteria but instead were chosen based on a very broad and open criteria.

Independent variable

The independent variable in research terms is the variable that can be manipulated, changed or introduced to test the research question or hypothesis.

In the case of this research project there will be more than one independent variable. This is not unusual in research as often there is more than one introduction or manipulation for the purpose of experimenting or testing the research question or hypothesis.

The first independent variable in this project is going to be the traditional classroom instruction while the second independent variable will be the online instruction.

Dependent variable

The dependent variable in a research study or experiment is the variable that may be influenced or changed by the independent variable. The name dependent variable is accurate as it is dependent on the other variable.

In some cases the dependent variable is referred to as the predicted variable.

In the case of this research study the dependent variable will be the performance of the students in the two different education settings as evidenced by their scores on the semester examination on American history.

Sometimes the dependent variable is referred to as the outcome variable as it illustrates the outcome of the experiment or study.

Procedures to conduct the study

The procedures used to conduct the study will be the two different types of instructions. The first high school American History course will be instructed in a traditional classroom setting with a traditional teacher-student-based setting.

The second procedure will be the online American History coursework.

The curriculum will be identical in nature, scope and sequence to help insure the purity and validity of the results.

Data collection procedures

The data collection procedures will involve the reporting and collection of the scores that each student in the study achieves on the final examination at semester's end.

In the group in which the traditional classroom setting will occur the test will be provided and administered in the classroom during regular classroom hours.

The group that is instructed online will be asked to come into the high school on a designated day and time to take their final semester exam. This is to insure that the participants actually take the test and do not have someone take it for them.

In addition it insures the students cannot look things up on the Internet to find the answers as they are taking the test, which is something they could do if they were at home taking the test.

Following the completion of each test the grades will be compiled and reported to the research team so that they can be divided by online and traditional groups and recorded as such.