To Blend or not to Blend: A Case Study of On-line Learning in General Biology

Abstract

The drive to increase on-line course offerings has many motivations. The most compelling for Community College students is often the need to juggle family demands and the need to work while attempting to earn their college degree. On-line education began with the for-profit educational industry and the experiences of students in the for - profit arena has much to teach us. A significant feature is the high drop -out rates associated with massive on-line courses (MOOCs). Bronx Community College is a Hispanic Serving Community College, whose students could benefit from the flexibility on-line courses can provide. However, recent data suggests that these are the very students who tend to underperform in an on-line setting. The current work is a case study that compares the performance of students taking a hybrid general biology 1 course to students in the classic lecture sections of the course. The result indicates that students in the hybrid course sections show lower performance on common final exam assessments, lower passing grades and rates compared to students enrolled in the classic lecture sections of the course.