Online Versus On-Campus Strategic Management Course: A Case Study
Purpose and Research Questions
The purpose of this study was to compare the success of on-campus students with online students enrolled in two sections of a capstone business course. The online course had been recently developed specifically so that students could finish their degree even after accepting a job in another city. This raised the question of whether this method of delivery would be as effective as the traditional on-campus course as the only significant difference in the two courses was the mode of delivery—online versus a traditional on-campus classroom setting. The following questions were addressed:
- Is there a difference between the overall grade point averages (GPAs) of students who elect to take a course online and those who take a course in the traditional classroom?
- Is there a difference between the ages of students who elect to take a course online and those who take a course in the traditional classroom?
- Is there a difference between the success of students who elect to take a course online and those who take a course in the traditional classroom as measured by test grades, case grades, simulation grades, and final course averages?
- How satisfied are students with taking the course in an online venue as measured by a self-reporting survey?