Virtual Classrooms: How Online College Courses Affect Student Success
01 Sep 2017-The American Economic Review (American Economic Association)-Vol. 107, Iss: 9, pp 2855-2875
TL;DR: The authors found that taking a course online, instead of in-person, reduces student success and progress in college, and that students are less likely to remain enrolled at the university after taking online courses.
Abstract: Online college courses are a rapidly expanding feature of higher education, yet little research identifies their effects relative to traditional in-person classes. Using an instrumental variables approach, we find that taking a course online, instead of in-person, reduces student success and progress in college. Grades are lower both for the course taken online and in future courses. Students are less likely to remain enrolled at the university. These estimates are local average treatment effects for students with access to both online and in-person options; for other students, online classes may be the only option for accessing college-level courses.
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TL;DR: Compared to offline learning, online learning has advantages to enhance undergraduates’ knowledge and skills, therefore, can be considered as a potential method in undergraduate medical teaching.
Abstract: With the increasing use of technology in education, online learning has become a common teaching method. How effective online learning is for undergraduate medical education remains unknown. This article's aim is to evaluate whether online learning when compared to offline learning can improve learning outcomes of undergraduate medical students. Five databases and four key journals of medical education were searched using 10 terms and their Boolean combinations during 2000-2017. The extracted articles on undergraduates' knowledge and skill outcomes were synthesized using a random effects model for the meta-analysis.16 out of 3,700 published articles were identified. The meta-analyses affirmed a statistically significant difference between online and offline learning for knowledge and skill outcomes based on post-test scores (SMD = 0.81; 95% CI: 0.43, 1.20; p < 0.0001; n = 15). The only comparison result based on retention test scores was also statistically significant (SMD = 4.64; 95% CI: 3.19, 6.09; p < 0.00001). The meta-analyses discovered no significant difference when using pre- and post-test score gains (SMD = 3.03; 95% CI: -0.13, 4.13; p = 0.07; n = 3). There is no evidence that offline learning works better. And compared to offline learning, online learning has advantages to enhance undergraduates' knowledge and skills, therefore, can be considered as a potential method in undergraduate medical teaching.
419 citations
Cites background from "Virtual Classrooms: How Online Coll..."
...As a result, students got lower grades for both the course taken online and the courses that followed [42]....
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TL;DR: In this article, the causal effects of online education on student exam performance using administrative data from Chinese middle schools were estimated. But not all online education was equal: students who were given recorded online lessons from external higher-quality teachers had higher exam scores than those whose lessons were recorded by teachers from their own school.
109 citations
Cites result from "Virtual Classrooms: How Online Coll..."
...Second, this study adds to the literature on experimental evidence on the effects of instruction models on student performance (Figlio et al., 2013; Bowen et al., 2014; Alpert et al., 2016; Bettinger et al., 2017; Kozakowski, 2019)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the academic performance of veterinary medical students and researchers was analyzed by a cross-sectional study, where a total of 1,392 participants were from 92 different countries answered the questionnaire with response rate of 94.1%.
Abstract: Many universities and colleges worldwide suspended classroom teaching due to the novel coronavirus pandemic and switched to online teaching. The current cross-sectional study was carried out to analyze the impact of COVID-19 lockdown on the academic performance of veterinary medical students and researchers. Veterinary medical students and researchers were invited to answer an online google form questionnaire. A total of 1,392 participants were from 92 different countries answered the questionnaire with response rate of 94.1%. The data showed that COVID-19 pandemic lockdown affected the academic performance of most participants (96.7%) with varying degrees. The mean evaluation score for the online education in general was 5.1 ± 2.4 while that for the practical parts was 3.6 ± 2.6. Although online education provides an opportunity for self-study, the main challenge that online education faces in veterinary medical science is how to give practical lessons. Since most of the subjects are practical; therefore, it is not easy to learn it online. Students think that it is difficult to fulfill the veterinary competencies only with online education system. Online education could be improved by making it more interactive, showing medical procedures in real situations, giving concise information, and providing 3D virtual tools to mimic the real situation.
104 citations
Cites background from "Virtual Classrooms: How Online Coll..."
...This flexibility helps some students to better invest their time and efforts while it is considered as a challenge to other students who cannot manage their own time (25)....
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...Taking online courses has a negative effect on students; reduction of students’ progress and success has been reported to be associated with taking online college courses, instead of traditional in-person courses (25)....
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TL;DR: This article used fixed effects models to estimate differences in contemporaneous and downstream academic outcomes for students who take courses virtually and face-to-face, both for initial attempts and subsequent attempts.
Abstract: This article uses fixed effects models to estimate differences in contemporaneous and downstream academic outcomes for students who take courses virtually and face-to-face—both for initial attempts...
99 citations
TL;DR: A model for scaling up affordable access to effective STEM education through national online education platforms is proposed and evaluated and finds that online and blended instruction produce similar student learning outcomes as traditional in-person instruction at substantially lower costs.
Abstract: Meeting global demand for growing the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce requires solutions for the shortage of qualified instructors. We propose and evaluate a model for scaling up affordable access to effective STEM education through national online education platforms. These platforms allow resource-constrained higher education institutions to adopt online courses produced by the country's top universities and departments. A multisite randomized controlled trial tested this model with fully online and blended instruction modalities in Russia's online education platform. We find that online and blended instruction produce similar student learning outcomes as traditional in-person instruction at substantially lower costs. Adopting this model at scale reduces faculty compensation costs that can fund increases in STEM enrollment.
79 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors draw on recent progress in the theory of property rights, agency, and finance to develop a theory of ownership structure for the firm, which casts new light on and has implications for a variety of issues in the professional and popular literature.
49,666 citations
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TL;DR: In this paper, a set of recent studies have attempted to measure the causal effect of education on labor market earnings by using institutional features of the education system as exogenous determinants of schooling outcomes.
Abstract: This paper reviews a set of recent studies that have attempted to measure the causal effect of education on labor market earnings by using institutional features of the supply side of the education system as exogenous determinants of schooling outcomes. A simple theoretical model that highlights the role of comparative advantage in the optimal schooling decision is presented and used to motivate an extended discussion of econometric issues, including the properties of ordinary least squares and instrumental variables estimators. A review of studies that have used compulsory schooling laws, differences in the accessibility of schools, and similar features as instrumental variables for completed education reveals that the resulting estimates of the return to schooling are typically as big or bigger than the corresponding ordinary least squares estimates. One interpretation of this finding is that marginal returns to education among the low-education subgroups typically affected by supply-side innovations tend to relatively high, reflecting their high marginal costs of schooling, rather than low ability that limits their return to education.
1,732 citations
01 Jan 2013
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors report on the state of online learning among higher education institutions in the United States based on responses from over 2,800 colleges and universities, and address the following key issues: (1) massive open online courses (MOOCS); (2) are we heading for online 2.0?; (3) is online learning strategic; (4) how many students are learning online; (5) who offers online education; (6) does it take more faculty time and effort to teach online; and (7) are learning outcomes in online
Abstract: This document reports on the state of online learning among higher education institutions in the United States. The study is aimed at answering some of the fundamental questions about the nature and extent of online education. Based on responses from over 2,800 colleges and universities, the report addresses the following key issues: (1) massive open online courses (MOOCS); (2) are we heading for online 2.0?; (3) is online learning strategic?; (4) how many students are learning online?; (5) who offers online?; (6) does it take more faculty time and effort to teach online?; (7) are learning outcomes in online comparable to face-to-face?; (8) has faculty acceptance of online increased?; and (9) barriers to widespread adoption of online learning.
1,564 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a set of recent studies have attempted to measure the causal effect of education on labor market earnings by using institutional features of the education system as exogenous determinants of schooling outcomes.
Abstract: This paper reviews a set of recent studies that have attempted to measure the causal effect of education on labor market earnings by using institutional features of the supply side of the education system as exogenous determinants of schooling outcomes. A simple theoretical model that highlights the role of comparative advantage in the optimal schooling decision is presented and used to motivate an extended discussion of econometric issues, including the properties of ordinary least squares and instrumental variables estimators. A review of studies that have used compulsory schooling laws, differences in the accessibility of schools, and similar features as instrumental variables for completed education, reveals that the resulting estimates of the return to schooling are typically as big or bigger than the corresponding ordinary least squares estimates. One interpretation of this finding is that marginal returns to education among the low-education subgroups typically affected by supply-side innovations tend to be relatively high, reflecting their high marginal costs of schooling, rather than low ability that limits their return to education.
1,470 citations
Posted Content•
TL;DR: This paper explored the use of college proximity as an exogenous determinant of schooling and found that men who grew up in local labor markets with a nearby college have significantly higher education and earnings than other men.
Abstract: A convincing analysis of the causal link between schooling and earnings requires an exogenous source of variation in education outcomes. This paper explores the use of college proximity as an exogenous determinant of schooling. Analysis of the NLS Young Men Cohort reveals that men who grew up in local labor markets with a nearby college have significantly higher education and earnings than other men. The education and earnings gains are concentrated among men with poorly-educated parents -- men who would otherwise stop schooling at relatively low levels. When college proximity is taken as an exogenous determinant of schooling the implied instrumental variables estimates of the return to schooling are 25-60% higher than conventional ordinary least squares estimates. Since the effect of a nearby college on schooling attainment varies by family background it is possible to test whether college proximity is a legitimately exogenous determinant of schooling. The results affirm that marginal returns to education among children of less-educated parents are as high and perhaps much higher than the rates of return estimated by conventional methods.
1,186 citations