Online vs. face-to-face discussion in a web-based research methods course for postgraduate nursing students: A quasi-experimental study

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Abstract

Background

Web-based technologies are increasingly being used to create modes of online learning for nurses but their effect has not been assessed in nurse education.

Objectives

Assess whether participation in face-to-face discussion seminars or online asynchronous discussion groups had different effects on educational attainment in a web-based course.

Design

Non-randomised or quasi-experimental design with two groups-students choosing to have face-to-face discussion seminars and students choosing to have online discussions.

Setting

The Core Methods module of a postgraduate research methods course.

Participants

All 114 students participating in the first 2 yr during which the course teaching material was delivered online.

Outcome

Assignment mark for Core Methods course module.

Methods

Background details of the students, their choices of modules and assignment marks were collected as part of the routine course administration. Students’ online activities were identified using the student tracking facility within WebCT. Regression models were fitted to explore the association between available explanatory variables and assignment mark.

Results

Students choosing online discussions had a higher Core Methods assignment mark (mean 60.8/100) than students choosing face-to-face discussions (54.4); the difference was statistically significant (t=3.13, df=102, p=0.002), although this ignores confounding variables. Among online discussion students, assignment mark was significantly correlated with the numbers of discussion messages read (Kendall's τb=0.22, p=0.050) and posted (Kendall's τb=0.27, p=0.017); among face-to-face discussion students, it was significantly associated with the number of non-discussion hits in WebCT (Kendall's τb=0.19, p=0.036). In regression analysis, choice of discussion method, whether an M.Phil./Ph.D. student, number of non-discussion hits in WebCT, number of online discussion messages read and number posted were associated with assignment mark at the 5% level of significance when taken singly; in combination, only whether an M.Phil./Ph.D. student (p=0.024) and number of non-discussion hits (p=0.045) retained significance.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates that a research methods course can be delivered to postgraduate healthcare students at least as successfully by an entirely online method in which students participate in online discussion as by a blended method in which students accessing web-based teaching material attend face-to-face seminar discussions. Increased online activity was associated with higher assignment marks. The study highlights new opportunities for educational research that arise from the use of virtual learning environments that routinely record the activities of learners and tutors.

Section snippets

What is already known about the topic?

  • Increasing use is being made of online environments in nursing education.

  • Online learning and teaching can be as effective as face-to-face methods in training for specific skills.

What this paper adds

  • Online discussions are associated with at least as good results as face-to-face seminar discussions in a web-based postgraduate research methods course for nursing and healthcare students.

  • Increased use of online resources, including web sites and discussion boards, is associated with higher student achievement.

Objectives

The aims of the study were to assess whether participation in face-to-face discussion seminars or online asynchronous discussion seminars in a web-based course had different effects on educational attainment, and to examine associations between online activity and attainment.

Design

This was a non-randomised or quasi-experimental design comparing two groups: students who wished to attend face-to-face discussion seminars and students who wished to participate in online discussion seminars. Students were

Recruitment: student characteristics and choice of discussion method

Table 1 shows characteristics of the participating students. Most students (85/114, 75%) were female, and the mean age of 38.5 Y reflected the typical research pathway in Nursing, with experienced health professionals returning to academic study after some years in practice. Most students (68, 60%) were based in Greater Manchester. The collaboration on psychosocial education programme (COPE) had the largest number of participants (48, 42%), followed by nursing studies (26, 23%), clinical nursing

Online vs. face-to-face discussion

This study demonstrates that a research methods course can be delivered to postgraduate healthcare students at least as successfully by an entirely online method in which students participate in online discussion as by a blended method in which students access the teaching material via the web and attend face-to-face seminar discussions. The demand for online discussions increased from 36% in the first year of the web-based course to 44% in the second, and it rose again in subsequent years.

Conclusions

In a web-based postgraduate research methods course, student attainment can be at least as successful through online discussions as face-to-face seminars. Indeed, students studying purely online appeared to perform slightly better than those following a blended route, although factors other than method of learning account for most of the difference. Increases in online activity were associated with higher assignment marks. Face-to-face seminar students who registered more hits in WebCT achieved

Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge the General Nursing Council Trust whose funding made this study possible.

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