Online vs. On-Campus Learning in Teacher Education

Abstract

Many universities have developed teacher preparation programs online. This study explores online learning in a graduate school course on behavior management that is included in the special education teacher credential program at a large private university in California. A total of 140 adult students took the course, half of these online and the other half on-campus. Students self-selected the format in which they took the course. Learning and follow-up teaching performances were evaluated and compared across these two settings by first, measurement of learning as recorded on three periodic standard multiple-choice quizzes taken during the course and secondly, on performance in a follow-up measure of behavior management in student teaching as recorded by a master teacher and university supervisor. No significant differences between these two groups were found in the measurement of initial learning or follow-up performance. The absence of significant difference is reviewed along with the value of actual differences available in each learning experience.