A Comparison of Distance Learning and Traditional Learning Environments

This study investigated differences between distance education and on-campus students using samples from a population of political science students. One group of 101 students was enrolled in Texas government classes taught on campus, and the other group of 101 students was enrolled in Texas government classes taught by Internet. A multiple-choice pretest was administered again as a posttest to measure student progress. A survey instrument was also used to collect student demographic data and perceptions of the course. For the pretest an independent samples t-test was used to determine whether differences in pretest performance existed between the two groups. No statistically significant differences were found in pretest performance between the groups. No statistically significant differences were found for posttest performance between the groups. Differences in survey scores for the two groups were not statistically significant. A Pearson-product moment correlation coefficient was calculated to determine the relationship between student performance and perceptions, using posttest scores and survey perceptions. The results indicate that no statistically significant relationship exists between scores and perceptions in either the on-campus group or the Internet group. (Contains 5 tables and 20 references.) (SLD)