As I re-examined the articles I have been studying, specifically looking at data collection and analysis methods, I noticed some interesting themes. Five of the eleven articles I have been reading had no data collection. These articles focused on historical or theoretical issues dealing with distance education. Three of the articles used questionnaires to survey student opinions or outcomes and then used various statistical techniques to analyze the data looking for correlations. I noticed that two of these studies had a 33% response rate and the other had a 50% response rate. Three of the articles used a more qualitative approach. One article discussed an analysis of eight blogs and interviews the authors of the blogs; another reported on interviews with twenty women regarding distance education. The third described a professional development program in detail (case study).
I thought it was particularly interesting that of these eleven articles only one compared students who were in a F2F setting with students learning at a distance to compare their learning outcomes.
Below is a table that outlines specific methods used in each of the articles. Blogger would not let me copy/past from Word so I had to upload it as an image file. I spent some time researching a better way, but could not find one. Should you have insights as to how to do this, they are welcome.
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2 comments:
I think the F2F vs. Distance comparison studies are to distance education what the media comparison studies are to educational/instructional technology. It may have been a greater concern in the past, but as Distance Ed. becomes more ubiquitous, folks are instead focusing on telling stories and figuring out what works in media more suited to Distance learning. What's your take, Charles?
That's an interesting perspective. I would have thought that comparisons would still have been a hot topic. Guess it pays to look for themes! :)
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