Computer‐Assisted Distance Learning, Part II: Examination Performance of Students On and Off Campus

Abstract

AbstractTechnical Japanese courses taught to engineering students at the University of Wisconsin‐Madison were offered to professionals at corporations and government laboratories around the United States over a period of nine semesters via audiographic teleconferencing and interactive satellite broadcasts. Examination scores by students from three groups (campus, audiographics, satellite) were analyzed statistically on a semester‐by‐semester basis. In only two of the eight semesters in which a course was offered via audio‐graphics was there a discernible difference (at the 5% level) between the scores of the audiographics students and the scores of the campus students. In one instance the scores of the students on campus were higher; in the other instance the scores of the students at the remote sites were higher. Over the five semesters in which a course was offered via interactive satellite broadcasts there was no semester in which the difference in scores between the satellite group and the campus group was statistically significant (at the 5% level). The results of this study support the assertion that students at remote sites in a well‐planned distance education program can achieve a performance comparable to that of students who receive on‐site instruction.