Choosing Between Online and Face-to-Face Courses: Community College Student Voices

• Published in: The American journal of distance education Vol. 28; no. 1; pp. 27 - 38
• Main Author: Jaggars, Shanna Smith
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Philadelphia Routledge 01.01.2014; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: College Students; Community Colleges; Conventional Instruction; Difficulty Level; Distance learning; Efficiency; Flexible Scheduling; Interaction; Interest Inventories; Intermode Differences; Learning Experience; Online Courses; Online instruction; Preferences; Semi Structured Interviews; Student Attitudes; Student Educational Objectives; Virginia; Virginia
• ISSN: 0892-3647; 1538-9286
• DOI: 10.1080/08923647.2014.867697

In this study, community college students discussed their experiences with online and face-to-face learning as well as their reasons for selecting online (rather than face-to-face) sections of specific courses. Students reported lower levels of instructor presence in online courses and that they needed to "teach themselves." Accordingly, most students preferred to take only "easy" academic subjects online; they preferred to take "difficult" or "important" subjects face-to-face. To meet students' needs, then, colleges need to either more explicitly build instructor presence and guidance into online courses or continue to provide ample face-to-face sections of courses for those students who prefer them.