Research on Effectiveness

Research on Effectiveness Amy Lewis EMC598 Arizona State University Summer 1998

Chapter four of Michael Moore and Greg Kearsly's Distance Education: A Systems View emphasizes that we no longer need to ask whether distance education courses are as effective as classroom courses. The authors make this argument due to studies that have been conducted which measure the achievement of learning, attitude of students, and cost effectiveness. There are many studies that compare the effectiveness of teaching in the traditional classroom with distance education. According to Distance Education: A Systems View variables that determine the effectiveness of distance education courses include the following:

    1. number of students at the learning site,
    2. length of class,
    3. reasons for student taking class,
    4. prior educational background of student,
    5. nature of instructional strategies used,
    6. kind of learning involved,
    7. types of pacing, amount and type of interaction,
    8. role of tutors,
    9. preparation and experience of instructors and administrators, and
10. extent of learner support provided.

Research has also shown the effectiveness of learner achievement in distance education. Achievement is measured by grades, test scores, retention and job performance. Of the many studies sited, I found that the study conducted at the high school level comparing seven conventional classrooms to videoconference classes interesting. The results were in favor of the distance education classes through post-test scores. It is though similar evidence to this in many other studies that provide us with reasoning not to question whether distance education is effective in terms of learners' achievement. Instead, these studies bring us answers to the following questions: Does classroom instruction provide the optimum delivery method? Can instruction at a distance be as effective as classroom learning? Is the absence of face-to-face contact damaging to the learning process? Are the same course elements such as designed, delivered, and conducted important in both conventional classrooms and distance education?

There are many more areas of distance education that still need to be researched. Researchers need to be able to built off of one another work. Three areas that are emphasized as fields of promising research include: media effectiveness related to student characteristics, effective course design, and teaching strategies. Following are two on-line resources identified in these fields of study:

Mckenzie, Jamie. The Site-Based Decision-making Guide for Practioners. Correct Change Press. http://fromnowon.org/SBM/contents.html
The authors of Distance Education: A Systems View would consider this as an useful addition to research in this field as teaching/administration strategies. This is a site-based decision-making guide. It is a practical guide intended to serve those who would apply the techniques of site-based management to their own school. It emphasis that rapid change in the age of information demands a new kind of leadership in our school systems. It contains several interesting topics and helpful appendixes. An outline of the research includes:

Introduction Chapter One - Sources: Whose Idea?
Chapter Two - The Premises and Assumptions
Chapter Three - The Politics
Chapter Four - Powerful Educational Ideas
Chapter Five - The Perils
Chapter Six - The Premises and Assumptions
Chapter Seven - Appraisal: Assessing Organizational Readiness
Chapter Eight - Clarifying the Destination: Goal Setting and Role-Clarification
Chapter Nine - Recruitment: Identifying a Positive Campus Council
Chapter Ten - Rehearsal: Learning and Practicing Group Problem-Solving, Negotiating, Planning and Consulting Skills
Chapter Eleven - Focus: Concentrating on Essential Issues and Questions
Chapter Twelve - Research: Discovering What Works
Chapter Thirteen - Invention: Adapting and Innovating to Match the School Site Context and Reality
Chapter Fourteen - Inclusion: Hearing and Honoring Constituent Voices
Chapter Fifteen - Strategy: Converting Intention into Action
Chapter Sixteen - Skill-Building: Learning Focus, Research, Invention, Inclusion and Strategy Chapter Seventeen - The Crow's Nest: Keeping an Eye on the Horizon
Chapter Eighteen - Islands in the Storm: Assessing and Shifting Course
Chapter Nineteen - Authentic Assessment and Formative Program Evaluation
Chapter Twenty - Weathering the Storms: Reefing the Main and Managing Disappointment Chapter Twenty-One - Sharing the Load: Involving the Partners
Chapter Twenty-Two - Celebrating Small Triumphs
Chapter Twenty-Three - Tacking Across the Wind
Chapter Twenty-Four - Final Destinations
Appendix A - School Commitment to Teaching for Thinking
Appendix B - Planning for the Perils
Appendix C - The Teacher Adaptability Quotient Scale
Appendix D - Diagnosis of Team Building Needs
Appendix E - The Innovation and Environmental Scanning Index .

Hinchliffe, Lisa Janicke. Planning an Electronic Library Classroom. http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/~janicke/Abstracts.html r
The authors of Distance Education: A Systems View would consider this a helpful addition to research of distance education of teaching strategies. It is a site about library services and resources. It explains how to plan an electronic library classroom specifically designed for instructional purposes. This guide will help teachers change the classroom for an "information environment." There are points of interest regarding to the changes in the classroom including the ways technology is used to gather information. A version of this was also published in the MC Journal: The Journal of Academic Medica Librarianship, Spring 1998 (http://wings.buffalo.edu/publications/mcjrnl/v6n1/class.html). This site includes an extensive bibliography that identifies resources for those who are designing instructional classrooms. "Master Classrooms: Classroom Design With Technology in Mind" by Conway (http://www.iat.unc.edu/publications/conway/conway1.html) was a good resource.