Online Education and Student Outcomes : Tracking the Value of Online Courses

Abstract

With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire began shifting a significant portion of its offered courses to an online-only instructional format, increasing the number of students exposed to virtual instruction. The purpose of this research is to measure the impact that the switch to online learning had on students’ academic performance, specifically during and after spring of 2020. Did taking a course online rather than in-person have a positive or negative impact on a student’s learning outcomes? Does the accessibility that online education provides for students outweigh the detriment it may have on learning outcomes? With the cost of higher education continuing to climb, students have high standards for universities and instructors. Are these standards still being met when it comes to students taking online and hybrid courses? For our project, we are examining data from thousands of past and present students at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Currently, we are examining the demographics of our data set to see which students were impacted most by the shift to online learning. So far, we have observed that there are differences in which groups of students performed best during the pandemic, depending on prior academic performance, level of financial need, and gender/age. We predict that there will be a substantial difference in academic outcomes depending on the modality of the course taken.