February 2001 — Features

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Evaluating Distance Education Across Twelve Time Zones

by Melinda G. Cerny, M.A. and Jesse M. Heines, Ed.D.

 

As before, we converted these responses to numbers, computed the means and standard deviations, and plotted them in Figure 2. It can be seen that these responses had smaller standard deviations and therefore tended to be grouped a little more strongly than responses for the Likert Scale questions. It can also be seen that, as hoped, students tended to characterize the system as "professional," "polished," "effective," "easy," "clear," and "helpful," as opposed to their semantic opposites.

The final set of questions gave students a chance to express their feelings about the system in a freeform manner. We asked two questions to stimulate their responses. Thirty-eight students (62 percent) responded to Question 37, and 22 (36 percent) responded to Question 38. Following is a sampling of representative student responses.

 

How did taking this course via distance learning affect the quality of the course?

  • It would [be] more interactive if the professors [were] present in person, but I do not think it affected the quality of the course.
  • I asked [fewer] question[s] via distance learning than on-site learning.
  • Personally, I feel face-to-face interaction is always better. After class, we can approach [the] lecturer with ease.
  • ...distance learning facilitated more lectures from MIT, which [is] good. But at the same time, the professor is not able to judge from our faces, if we have understood something or not, in video conferencing...
  • It's not as effective as being taught locally, but given all the constraints and limitations, SMA Instructional Delivery System is quite impressive to me.
  • The lecturers were fine, but consultation via e-mail is not as effective as through video-conferencing. Maybe we can arrange for that.

 

Please share with us any ideas, suggestions, or concerns you would like us to know about.

  • Use a more distinct mouse pointer.
  • Lectures should be [delivered at] a slower pace (maybe over a longer period of time).
  • If we [could] have head-phones for [listening to the] lecturers, we [could] adjust the volume according to our requirements.
  • It would be good if the class videos [were] put on the Web [earlier].
  • As for [using] PowerPoint slides [versus] blackboard, using [the] blackboard leaves more time [for] thinking.
  • Arrange some class times that are not at either extreme end [of the day], and if only local [Singapore] students attend MIT classes, evening is preferable to early morning classes. And post announcements or notes at least a day in advance.
  • Reschedule the nighttime lecturers because I find very low efficiency in night classes.
  • Some means of communicating with the students at MIT is [desirable].
  • Ought to promote more [use of] net meeting for better or more interaction with lecturers.

 

Conclusions

We have cautioned against placing too much emphasis on the analytical parts of this survey, but students' free responses do seem to support the main points born out of that analysis. With those reservations stated, we offer the following conclusions: