A Comparison of Student Knowledge and Attitude toward Research: Are Main Campus Students Different from Those in a Hybrid Environment?

Abstract

The trend toward the use of distance education in teaching social work students has been rapidly growing over the past two decades. A constant issue of concern is related to student outcomes. This paper reports on a longitudinal quasi-experimental study assessing the differential knowledge and attitude toward research between social work students taking a research methods course in one of two modalities: traditional classroom versus distance setting. Both bachelor's and master's degree students participated in this 2-year study. Descriptive statistics and results of inferential tests as well as implications for future study are presented in this paper.

Keywords:

• hybrid education
• blended education
• social work research
• distance education