Examining the Impact of Course Modality and Course Content Presentation Modality on Undergraduate Grade Outcomes and Course Evaluations

This study was conducted with students previously enrolled in an introduction to educational psychology course during the fall 2019 “F2F”, fall 2020 “online”, and fall 2021 “mixed” semesters, (N =515). The primary goal of this study was to examine how course modality, online and F2F, impacts certain course variables. Specifically, research questions examine how course modality impacts overall course performance, exam performance, homework completion, homework timeliness, and student ratings. Overall course grade, exam grades, and homework completion information were downloaded from Canvas and students identifying information were removed. De-identified student evaluation data were shared with the investigator.

A Kruskal-Wallis H test was used to examine the effects of modality (F2F, Online) on overall course performance, exam performance, assignment submissions, and adherence to deadlines. A Mann-U Whitney Test was used to examine the effects of modality on student ratings. There was no significant difference in course performance across modalities. However, there were significant differences in exam performance, homework completion, and timeliness in which the F2F semester had significantly better performance than the online and mixed semesters. Student ratings were significantly higher for the F2F semester on measures of classroom environment and structure. Additionally, those in the online semester spent significantly more time on the course than those in F2F semester. Implication for findings, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

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