A comparative assessment of student learning outcomes in large online and traditional campus‐based introduction to criminal justice courses

Abstract

The current paper discusses a comparative assessment of student learning outcomes in large online and traditional in‐class courses when teaching introduction to criminal justice. The courses were taught to over 500 students in a public, urban university in the southeast. Overall, the findings of the current study highlight that there are few differences regarding student performance and knowledge obtainment in the two courses. The only significant correlations with the delivery method were weakly related to the third exam grade and the class final grade. The online class received significantly higher grades on the third exam in comparison to the in‐class group. However, the students’ final grades and course delivery type were negatively correlated indicating that the traditional class received a significantly higher final grade than the online class. Lastly, the results revealed that students were less satisfied with the online course, which may have been attributed to technological problems during the semester.

Keywords:

• course delivery models
• student learning outcomes
• nontraditional online teaching models
• student performance
• critical thinking skills
• faculty assessment