Title: Students performance between classical and online education: a comparative study

Authors: Khalid M.O. Nahar; Mohammed M. Abu Shquier; Izzat Alsmadi

Addresses: Department of Computer Science, Faculty of IT and Computer Sciences, Yarmouk University, Irbid 21163, Jordan ' Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Computer Science and IT, Jarash University, Jarash, Jordan ' Department of Computer Science, University of New Haven, New Haven, CT 06516, USA

Abstract: Writing study materials in online interactive forms can be seen as an optional choice to some educators or in some study domains. However, using online and interactive e-learning systems to communicate with students should not be seen as an option any more. In this paper, we analyse the impact of online education on students' learning or performance. A set of experiments were conducted in the Faculty of Computers and Information Technology at the University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Over 900 students have participated in the study between the years 2011 and 2014. We evaluated the results between the different teaching methods each year as well as between different classes over a three-year period. Students involved in the online method have achieved a slightly better performance in examinations compared to other students. It is clear that young generations are consuming a significant amount of their time on mobile devices, tablets and gadgets...etc. Bringing education materials to those devices can help them utilise some of this time for educational purposes and improve their skills.

Keywords: e-learning; electronic learning; online learning; online education; information technology; learning performance; interactive forms; human computer interaction; HCI; communication media; significant values; chi-square test; classical education; student performance; higher education.

DOI: 10.1504/IJCEELL.2016.080966

International Journal of Continuing Engineering Education and Life-Long Learning, 2016 Vol.26 No.4, pp.359 - 371

Received: 22 Jan 2016
Accepted: 27 May 2016
Published online: 13 Dec 2016 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article