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[bibliologos]

Hi folks,

I'm just a clueless biblical scholar, who happens to be at a place where we teach most of our intro courses both in a classroom and online -- not hybrids, but "pure" f2f and "pure" online courses, sometimes running at the same time, sometimes not.  Anyway, a colleague expressed the opinion at a recent faculty meeting that students shouldn't be taking the online courses but should be taking the f2f courses because the f2f courses are "better." 

So, where can I find studies that compare teaching effectiveness across various models of delivery?  Personally, I'd rather teach in the classroom than online, but if I have to teach online (and I do), then I want students to get good teaching.  I want to know what's out there in terms of research, but I don't even know where to look. 

Thanks in advance...
Bibliologos 

[duchess_of_malfi]

Your library's journal site?  Google Scholar?   I don't know where you have looked and with what search terms, so I'm not sure why you might be having trouble finding research articles. 

[bibliologos]

Yeah, I've done those sorts of things, but I guess I'm unsure how to sort out "good" studies from the not-good.  I don't really know much about research methodology in education (ok, nothing), or what kinds of journals are first-tier in the field, etc.  I mean, I can research, meaning "find stuff", but not knowing the norms of the field makes it hard to distinguish the good stuff from the crap.  I don't have the skills or knowledge to make critical judgments.

[zharkov]

Lots and lots of research is being done on online learning, articles, presentations, theses, and dissertations.  In fact, so much, that beginning with review articles and meta-analyses may be a good strategy.  Your reference librarian could certainly help locating some fairly recent (10 years or less) work.

By coincidence, here is one I just looked at:

    Bernard, R., Abrami, P., Yiping, L., Borokhovski, E., Wade, A., Wozney, L., et al. (2004). How Does Distance Education Compare With Classroom Instruction? A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature. Review of Educational Research, 74(3), 379-439. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier database.

[bibliologos]

Thanks Zharkov -- this is the kind of thing I'm looking for.