- Research Question: Is an online-only education is truly "better" than a campus-based education, in terms of a return on investment (for both cost and time)?
- Tentative Thesis: Online-only education, while possessing its own unique merits, as well as a positive return on investment, does not objectively provide as high quality an education as one which is campus-based. Has this new avenue for education created a faster, more efficient way to get a degree and learn new things? Conversely, does the advent of online education simply create shortcuts for companies to make money effectively selling degrees to those who do not necessarily deserve them? These questions are more lie at the heart of my research, and are some of the most important reasons I find to study this increasingly prevalent aspect of education. If people are to continue pursing online campuses and degrees earned over the Internet, the efficacy and applicability of such a path has to be studied in order to see if it is really worth it.
- Tentative Outline:
INTRODUCTION:
Importance of Studying Online Education
Problem: Online Courses Of Questionable Quality Over Traditional Classrooms
BODY:
Definitions
Distance Education
Advantages and Disadvantages of Online and Campus-Based Education
Online: Larger class sizes
Lack of strictly set class times/hours
Potential for Communication to be lost
Scheduling/Motivation Issues
Campus: Direct link between instructor and student
Higher costs, stricter time schedules for students
Quality of Online vs. Campus-Based Education (Student Participation/Performance)
No difference in student performance
Some online courses improve student attitudes, but no cumulative increase in
performance
quality education
