Date of Conferral

2017

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

David Bouvin

Abstract

In 2012, there were over 500,000 business management degrees conferred at the undergraduate and graduate level; however, the assessment of student performance has not kept pace with the growth of courses offered in both an online and traditional format. One of the objectives of teaching is to ensure that all students regardless of mode of instruction are receiving a quality education. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to measure the efficiency of learning in a business discipline by evaluating final course grades of 1,051 students. Ten traditional and 10 online course grades provided final student outcomes that were used to generate an effect size estimate. The research question focused on what knowledge related effect on student performance does both an online and a traditional format have in a business discipline utilizing Simonson's equivalency theory. This theoretical framework provided a context for understanding how information imparted in different environments may be equivalent in nature. This meta-analysis used effect size measurements to quantify the difference between online and traditional final grade assessments. The results indicated a low knowledge related effect size measurement on student performance outcomes that can be attributed to how online students compare to traditional students. This research has the potential to assist in the evaluation of distance education in business and other disciplines to determine its effect size results on student performance outcomes. This study contributes to social change by providing the ability for universities to manage student outcomes which can assist in improving the comparability between online and traditional business courses.

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