Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

Joseph Dozier
May 3, 2019
Coastal Carolina University

How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

Introduction:

The number of students taking online courses has dramatically increased over the past

two decades. Improvements in internet technologies and accessibility has made this an option for

many students who may not be able to physically attend a university. Previously as of 2017,

there were 3.1 million college students enrolled solely in online classes and 3.5 million enrolled

in both online and traditional courses. These numbers combined make up 33% of the college

student population (Lederman 2018). In more recent years, online classes have found their way

into K-12 public schools. Online classes offer a variety of immediate benefits for students and

school districts. First, online classes provide students opportunities to take courses that would not

otherwise be offered, due to not having an available teacher on site. Second, it teaches students

to be responsible for their work, independent study skills, and how to maintain a schedule

without the daily involvement of an instructor. Third, as mentioned previously, students who

continue their education in a higher ed setting will almost assuredly take an online course in

some shape or form. Exposing students to online courses in high school prepares them to

successfully take them in the future.

Three years ago, Waccamaw High School started the Warrior Virtual Academy in

Pawleys Island. Our main goal in implementing the online academy was to provide students the

opportunity to take courses that they would not have access to otherwise. Fuel Education is used

as the online platform. Fuel Education was founded in 2009 and currently serves over 2,000

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

school districts in all fifty states. They offer over 500 different courses for districts and schools

to choose from. They have a national pool of teachers who are certified for districts’ respective

states (k12.com). At WHS, we offer around 100 different courses for students to choose from. In

the 2017-18 school year students completed 458 different courses through our virtual academy.

This is my third year involved with the virtual academy at WHS and after having seen a

larger number of students come through the program, I wanted to explore how we could most

accurately and effectively measure their success, besides the obvious metric, their final letter

grade. However, I believe that this can often be a misleading form of measurement. Of course, I

want my students to pass their class and be successful, but I also want them to comprehend and

understand the subject matter of their classes. This is especially important for ELA,

Mathematics, Social Science, and World Languages. These classes require large amounts of

information to be carried over from year to year and I am often concerned students are just

completing assignments and not necessarily retaining information. This especially becomes a

problem when students fall behind. I wanted to explore these ideas further. I read various

journals about virtual classes and I created a survey based on my findings. The survey was sent

to 140 of my students and I received 63 responses. First, I will discuss my findings from

literature and secondly, I will discuss my findings from my student survey. Below are my

findings.

Review of Literature

Diagnosis of Learner Dropout Based on Learning Styles for Online Distance Learning

Research examines the relationship between learning styles and dropout rates in online

distance courses. The researchers analyzed the historical data of learners and they found that

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

learners with a linear thinking process tend to do better than learners who prefer information in

large chunks. The information revealed that learning styles can show what a particular learner

needs in order to avoid dropout (Heidrich, Barbosa, Cambruzzi, Rigo, Martins, Santos, 2018).

My main concern with this line of thinking is drawing the conclusion that a student of a specific

learning style will not be successful in an online course or that a student should be successful

because of a specific learning style. For instance, a linear learner may have a weakness in ELA,

but be successful in math classes. Some interesting ideas are proposed in this article, but as the

authors found, more data is required to fully understand the connection between learning styles

and how it may affect the success levels for students completing online courses.

Online Education Ascends

In this article, Mr. Lederman looks at the increases in students taking online curriculum

for public, private, and for-profit colleges from 2016 to 2017. The identified differences between

students enrolled in zero online courses, a combination of both, and solely online courses varies

between the type of institution. For-profit higher education institutions were the first to embrace

the online model as their main delivery method of curriculum. These institutions still are

primarily distance-based. Public and private non-profit colleges showed the same number of

students taking online courses versus none. Both types of institutions had around 70% of

students taking traditional classes. The differences between the two are more students in public

colleges took both online and traditional courses and in private schools more students took

strictly online courses (Lederman 2018).

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

Collection-Based Education by Distance and Face to Face: Learning Outcomes and Academic

Dishonesty

This article examines the results of traditional classroom exercises and distance learning

classes. Specifically, this article looks at if students learn as much as their peers in face-to-face

classrooms and whether academic dishonesty occurs more frequently with distance-learning

classes. Their research found that there was not a significant difference in end of course exams

for face-to-face learners and distance learners. Students in distance courses were found to cheat

more than those in face-to-face courses (Lucky, Branham, & Atchison 2019). I found this study

to be extremely useful and relevant to the primary purpose in my research. The retention of

course curriculum is one of my main concerns regarding my high school students who are

enrolled in online courses. A student who takes Spanish I online, may take Spanish II in a

classroom the following year and I want to ensure these students are getting the education

needed to take subsequent courses. Plagiarism is another issue I have had happen a few times in

the past three years. Most instances involved students copying/pasting answers and articles found

online. I believe the ease of internet access and the lack of knowledge on how to properly

conduct research are a great temptation for students to cheat. As the article stated many

plagiarism instances go unnoticed because of the difficulty of detection. This makes the real

numbers difficult to judge, leading back to the question of how much information are students

retaining through meaningful work vs. copy/paste and submit.

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

Grammar Processing Through English L2 e-books: Distance vs. Face-To-Face Learning

Alvarez examines the relationship between using e-books verse traditional books in

online courses. His study focuses on using e-books to teach a foreign language. He found that e-

books allow students to be active in their own learning. In regard to language, the examples and

solutions in the book provided students with the necessary background to effectively complete

tasks. Seeing how students process this information themselves provides a window into a

learners’ mind (Alverez 2016). There are many elements that affect a student in both traditional

classes and distance classroom. Alvarez looks specifically at the effects eBooks have on students

in distance courses. I agree from my own experience in the WHS lab, that having a proper guide

is essential, and generally results in positive student development and higher level of academic

achievement and retention of information. We offer a variety of courses and it is easy to tell

which have clearly written books and outlines, versus those that do not. I can often judge the

quality of material in a course by the number of times students request assistance.

New ways of learning: Comparing the Effectiveness of Interactive Online Media in Distance

Education with the European Textbook Tradition

This article researches the effectiveness of online media versus the traditional textbook

method. The results of the study were inconclusive. They did not find a substantial difference

between examination results and competence gains between online and offline students.

However, they did observe that well-designed interactive media can enhance the students’

learning experience (Krämer, Neugebauer, Magenheim, & Huppertz 2015). I thought this article

supported most of what I have researched and have seen in my own classroom. In general,

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

students who typically make good grades, will make similar grades in online classrooms just as

they would in traditional classes. I have also noticed that classes that have more interactive

models, students have an increase in engagement. For instance, our Forensics Science class has

several interactive labs that are flash games and students respond well to and have an increased

level of engagement. The classes students tend to struggle with the most are heavily text based

and not as engaging.

Methodology

After reading and researching various topics related to student success in online courses, I

wanted to further explore the success and failure rates of my student population. I wanted to

know what their opinions were of their classes, text, curriculum, and teachers. Since we offer

over 100 classes it is difficult to know exactly what comprises each course. To gain some

measure of what my student demographics are and what their opinions on the courses are, I

created a seven-question survey for them to take. The survey was emailed to 140 students and I

received 63 responses, providing a sample size of almost 50%. This large sample size gives an

accurate representation of the students’ opinions. Below I will discuss what I discovered about

the Virtual Academy population at Waccamaw High school.

Analysis

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

The first question I asked was how many years student have been enrolled in online classes. For

50% of my students this is their first year taking an online course, with years 2 and 3 being split

evenly. I do not have any students with 4 years of online experience, but this will change next

year since the program will be in its fourth year. This data shows that 50% of my students have

had success taking online courses, or they would not be enrolled for years 2 and 3. This goes

along with my personal experience working in the virtual lab, as second and third year students

require far less monitoring than first year students.

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

The second question in the survey asked what specific courses students were taking. The subject

with the most students is foreign language, followed closely by science and electives. Foreign

language is a popular subject. We offer Latin and German, which are not taught on sight. Many

students choose to take French and Spanish as well. The enrolment in science courses is high

because one of our most popular classes offered is Forensic Science. This class teaches students

how law enforcement solves crime cases. Fuel Ed. has many electives, giving students additional

options that are not taught in a traditional classroom setting at WHS. Below are some of the

specific courses the students are taking.

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

The junior class makes up the highest population in online classes through virtual school. The

junior year is when they can take a heavier course load to ensure a lighter load during senior

year. Many seniors also take advantage of our dual credit classes that are available through the

district and they are required to be off campus most of the day. Having a heavier workload junior

allows seniors more flexibility to take off-campus courses.

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

The digital content scored well for most students. No one selected a quality score of “1”, and

50% scored either “4” or “5”. I have browsed most of the classes available and most have easy to

follow content. Some classes, however, use outside platforms that can be confusing and

frustrating for students. I agree with Alverez’s findings that the digital content is the background

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

they will use to solve all the problems in the class. I also created a comment section for students

to leave their thoughts. I chose the examples above because they show how inefficient

information can impair a student’s learning process.

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

The students’ instructors are the next biggest factor for overall student acheivement. There are

many online professors who simply just grade assignments and leave little to no feedback.

However, the truly great ones, give constant constructive feedback. This feedback greatly

improves a student’s chance of successfully completing their courses. I have had very little

issues with the teachers supplied by Fuel Ed. Again, I gave a section for students to write

comments and the majority were positive regarding their instructors.

Sixty percent of students scored their overall satisfaction of the course at 4 or 5. I think these are

excellent numbers coming from high school students. Only 10% scored a 1 or 2. The students’

satisfaction with their courses is reflected by our extremely low failure rate in online classes.

Currently I only have 10 students in danger of failing their courses, out of 200 students. I would

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

say half of these will pass, putting the overall failure rate around 3%. This is extremely low

compared to numbers ranging from 50% to 90% failure rates for online classes, depending on

research and other statistical data analyzing the pass/fail rate of students enrolled in online

courses.

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

To conclude, the last question asked was, “what the big issues students had with taking their

online course.” One of the most common issues reported by students is learning to manage their

time adequately in a self-paced online class in order to be successful. Other most common issues

reported are related to the curriculum delivery and lack of instructor feedback. These two issues

are monitored by myself, and I assist the students as necessary.

Findings

After reviewing literature and the survey results from my students I can justify three ways

to measure success for students in online classes. They are: passing the course, learning time

management, and retaining content for future classes. As I mentioned before, ultimately grades

are the formative data we look at as educators. In the high school setting, my job is to ensure

students earn the credits they need to graduate and to help prepare them for life after graduation.

However, when a student is successful in these three aspects then they have truly benefited from

the course.

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Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

First, we measure student success by whether they successfully earn credit for the

completed course(s). When students successfully pass an online course, they have a great sense

of achievement. For many of them this is the first time they have been required to be solely

responsible for teaching themselves a subject. This sense of achievement is greater than what I

have seen teaching in traditional classrooms. I believe this is due to them overcoming a major

obstacle on their own and fostering a level of intrinsic motivation.

Secondly, I measure success by how they paced themselves throughout the course. As my

survey responses showed, staying on schedule is one of the students’ biggest challenges.

Students use pacing guides and I monitor grades, competition percentage, and user activity to

ensure they do not get behind. Students learning to pace themselves is not only critical to

completing the class, but an important life skill as well. As discussed earlier, students will likely

take virtual courses in the future, making pacing an invaluable skill. Students who fall behind

and cram the entire course into a few days as opposed to a semester/year do not benefit as much

from the course.

The last item for measuring success is a student’s ability to retain and understand the

content from their class. To do this they need to understand the content and consume it in a

timely paced manner. When the student makes a concerted effort to digest the material

purposefully instead of cramming, they are more prepared to take subsequent classes. Achieving

these gains throughout the course and at the end of the year are the true measures of success.

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 Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

Works Cited

Escobar-Álvarez, M. Á. (2016). Grammar processing through English L2 e-books: Distance vs.

face-to-face learning. New Perspectives on Teaching and Working with Languages in the Digital

Era,153-160. doi:10.14705/rpnet.2016.tislid2014.430

Heidrich, L., Barbosa, J. L., Cambruzzi, W., Rigo, S. J., Martins, M. G., & Santos, R. B. (2018).

Diagnosis of learner dropout based on learning styles for online distance learning. Telematics

and Informatics,35(6), 1593-1606. doi:10.1016/j.tele.2018.04.007

Krämer, B. J., Neugebauer, J., Magenheim, J., & Huppertz, H. (2015). New ways of learning:

Comparing the effectiveness of interactive online media in distance education with the European

textbook tradition. British Journal of Educational Technology,46(5), 965-971.

doi:10.1111/bjet.12301

Lederman, D. (2018, November 07). New data: Online enrollments grow, and share of overall

enrollment grows faster. Retrieved May 1, 2019, from

https://www.insidehighered.com/print/digital-learning/article/2018/11/07/new-data-online-

enrollments-grow-and-share-overall-enrollment

Liu, S., Li, Z., Zhang, Y., & Cheng, X. (2018). Introduction of Key Problems in Long-Distance

Learning and Training. Mobile Networks and Applications,24(1), 1-4. doi:10.1007/s11036-018-

1136-6

Lucky, A., Branham, M., & Atchison, R. (2019). Collection-Based Education by Distance and Face

to Face: Learning Outcomes and Academic Dishonesty. Journal of Science Education and

Technology. doi:10.1007/s10956-019-9770-8

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 Running Head: How should teachers measure the success of students in online classrooms?

The Story | Fuel Education. (n.d.). Retrieved May 1, 2019, from

https://www.fueleducation.com/why-fueled/the-story.html

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