An investigation of the learning outcomes of distance learning students versus traditional classroom students attempting the masters of business administration

This study was designed to investigate any significant differences in the learning outcomes of graduate students in the MBA degree program at The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in traditional instructional settings as compared with students who received their instruction via distance learning. Additionally, the study compared these previously mentioned groups to students who received a mixture of distance learning and traditional classroom instruction.

Research questions:

1) Is there a difference between the cumulative GPA scores of students in a distance learning setting and students in a traditional classroom setting, or students with a combination of distance learning and traditional classroom?

2) Is there a difference in the degree completion rates between students in traditional and distance learning settings?

3) Is there a difference in the length of time it takes students to complete the program?

There were 864 subjects divided into three groups. The traditional group received 70% or more of its instruction in the traditional classroom and had a total of 632 subjects. The mixed delivery group received between 31% and 69% of its instruction via distance learning and had 130 subjects. Finally, the distance learning group, students who received more than 70% of their instruction via distance learning, had 102 subjects.

Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used for questions 1 and 3. The chi-square was calculated for question 2.

Overall, the results for Question 1 revealed no significant differences between the traditional and distance learning groups. In cases where significant differences were found, the mixed delivery group had a higher mean score than the traditional and the distance learning groups. The ANCOVA increased these differences.

While reviewing the graduation status, the researcher found scattered occurrences of significant differences between the groups. There were no occurrences of the distance learning students scoring below the traditional students. In several tests, the mixed delivery group did have a significantly larger percentage of graduates than the traditional and distance learning groups.

Question 3 revealed consistent findings across the tests—^the distance learning group completed the degree programs in less time than the traditional group.