A Comparison of Students' Performance Under Full-Time, Part-Time, and Online Conditions in an Undergraduate Nursing Microbiology Course

The purpose of this study was to compare undergraduate nursing students' achievement on examinations for three groups in a mandatory microbiology course. The study represents one aspect of a larger research project designed to gain insight into factors that may influence online learning for distance education nursing students at a Canadian community college. Data were collected from full-time (n=206) and part-time (n=39) students in a traditional face-to-face learning environment, and from part-time students in an online learning environment (n=54). Three examinations for all course sections (two midterms, one final) were used to evaluate students' outcomes. Data analyses showed no significant statistical difference in students' outcomes on either of the midterm examinations, but on the final examination full-time students in the face-to-face instructional environment outperformed students who took the course online. Further analysis of online students showed an interaction between age and examination performance over time, such that older online students outperformed their younger counterparts as they gained more experience in the online environment. A follow-up to this research study has been proposed that would incorporate more controls in order to increase internal validity. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]