Assessing Student Performance between Face-to-Face and Online Course Formats in a College-Level Communications Course

Oct 15, 2026

This observational study compares student performance in online and face-to-face versions of the same mandatory college-level professional communications course. Over five semesters, descriptive statistics and chi-square and ANOVA methods assess educational outcomes and key performance factors. Results show online students are generally more academically prepared, more mature, more often full-time employed, fluent in English, and female, while gender, age, education, and writing proficiency predict achievement. Overall grades, completion, and retention are similar across formats, with differences analyzed by course type, academic standing, and delivery mode choice.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Study design and timeframe

Measures and analytical methods

Key findings on student factors

Overall performance comparison

Explanatory variables tested

The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning | Volume 11 | Issue 2 | Article 12 | | --- | --- | Fall 09-30-2020 Assessing Student Performance between Faceto-Face and Online Course Formats in a College-Level Communications Course Sabine Milz Fanshawe College, [smilz@fanshawec.ca](smilz@fanshawec.ca) Follow this and additional works at: [https://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca](https://www.cjsotl-rcacea.ca) [https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2020.2.10681](https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2020.2.10681) Recommended Citation Milz, S. (2020) . Assessing student performance between face-to-face and online course formats in a college-level communications course. The Canadian Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 11(2) . [https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2020.2.10681](https://doi.org/10.5206/cjsotl-rcacea.2020.2.10681) Assessing Student Performance between Face-to-Face and Online Course Formats in a College-Level Communications Course Abstract This observational study adds to a small number of college-specific studies comparing student performance in online and face-to-face versions of the same course. It also complements more largescale college-based studies that compare the delivery formats across courses, disciplines, andinstitutions. Using descriptive statistics and the chi-square and ANOVA methods, the author examined comparative educational outcomes by measuring student performance and key factors of student performance in the same mandatory professional communications course taught simultaneously in an online and face-to-face format over a 5-semester time frame. The findings are consistent with other comparative studies that have established that in comparison to face-to-face students, online students are generally more academically prepared; more mature; and more commonly full-time employed, fluent in the English language, and female. Similar to other studies, the factors of gender, age, education, and writing proficiency are significant indicators of student achievement; the factors of employment hours, native language, and direct/indirect entry are not, which shows some discrepancy with other studies. In terms of overall student performance, online and face-to-face-component students earned similar grades and had similar completion and retention rates. This finding does not concur with a number of studies that show that online students are significantly less likely to successfully complete courses than their face-to-face counterparts. Course type (mandatory, elective, remedial, regular), advancement in a course of study (lower year, upper year), and delivery mode choice (fully online vs. mix of online and face-to-face) are probed as explanatory variables for differences in findings. Cette étude d’observation s’ajoute à un nombre particulier d’études spécifiques aux collèges qui comparent la performance des étudiants et des étudiantes dans la version enseignée en ligne et la version enseignée face à face du même cours. L’étude vient également s’ajouter à des études plus vastes menées dans des collèges qui comparent les formats d’enseignement dans divers cours, diverses disciplines et divers établissements. Grâce à l’emploi de statistiques descriptives et des méthodes du chi-carré et ANOVA, l’auteure a examiné les résultats éducationnels comparatifs aprèsavoir mesuré la performance des étudiants et des étudiantes ainsi que les facteurs clés de performance des étudiants et des étudiantes dans le même cours obligatoire de communications professionnellesenseigné simultanément en ligne et face à face au cours de 5 semestres. Les résultats sont conformes à ceux d’autres études comparatives qui ont établi qu’en comparaison des étudiants et des étudiantes qui suivent le cours face à face, les étudiants et les étudiantes qui suivent le cours en ligne sontgénéralement mieux préparés académiquement, plus matures et généralement davantage employés à temps plein, parlent a

FAQs

What course and study design does the paper use?

It examines a mandatory professional communications course taught in both online and face-to-face formats simultaneously. The study spans a five-semester timeframe and uses an observational comparison.

Which methods are used to analyze differences in performance?

The study uses descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and ANOVA to evaluate comparative educational outcomes and key performance factors.

How do online and face-to-face students compare in overall performance?

Online and face-to-face components earned similar grades, with comparable completion and retention rates.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Anna Hans