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Evaluating the effect of a course Web site on student performance

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Abstract

THE AUTHOR CREATED A NUMBER OF WEB SITES to enhance traditional classroom instruction in computer science courses. These Web sites included lecture notes, assignments, downloadable programs, links to sites related to the course subject matter, and a program allowing students to see their grades on all assignments and tests and thus determine exactly where they stood in the course at any time.

This study reports on two types of data analyzed to gain insight into students’ use of the site: responses to an author-created survey and students’ final grades. Students demonstrated strong positive reactions to the course Web site on the survey and showed statistically significant final grade improvement after the Web site was introduced. While these results should be interpreted conservatively due to the large number of uncontrolled variables that affect student performance, they are nonetheless encouraging enough to warrant continued effort to develop and evaluate course Web sites.

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Author notes

  1. Jesse M. Heines

    Present address: Dept. of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell, One University Avenue, 01854, Lowell, MA

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    1. Jesse M. Heines
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    ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jesse M. Heines is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at University of Massachusetts Lowell. He has been on sabbatical for the 1999–2000 academic year, serving as a Visiting Scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Center for Educational Computing Initiatives. Heines specializes in the implementation of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) in interactive programs. He is the owner of CBT Artisan, Inc., a consulting firm founded in 1985 that provides training and programming services for GUI-based applications.

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    Heines, J.M. Evaluating the effect of a course Web site on student performance. J. Comput. High. Educ. 12, 57–83 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03032714

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