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AlterNet reports
Online instruction at community colleges isn't working--yet policymakers are continuing to fund programs to expand online courses at these schools, which primarily serve low-income minority students, and community college administrators are planning to offer more and more of them.
The latest salvo comes from researchers at the University of California-Davis, who found that community college students throughout California were 11 percent less likely to finish and pass a course if they opted to take the online version instead of the traditional face-to-face version of the same class. The still-unpublished paper, entitled Online Course-taking and Student Outcomes in California Community Colleges, was presented on April 18, 2015, at the American Educational Research Association's annual conference in Chicago.
[...]Community colleges [educate 45 percent of the nation's undergraduates] and [that sector] is under fire for low graduation rates.
[...]Despite the flexibility, it appears that many students find it hard to manage their time to complete the lectures and coursework throughout an entire semester.
[...]These are very different results from what researchers are finding for students at four-year colleges.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @07:32PM
Considering the potentially greater outreach and cost savings, 11 percent lower doesn't seem that bad. You might grow the college population by 50 percent or more.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 06 2015, @08:08PM
Considering there is nothing in a college student's life that demands discipline and self-motivation like taking online classes, the fact that 89% of those Californian students get through is impressive.