Evaluation of Course Strategies: Face-to-Face vs. Online

Asynchronous, online courses are being designed from face-to-face (F2F) versions to provide the flexibility to scale-up enrollment [3]. To support student success in large-enrollment online classes, it is important to design online courses with strategies that enhance student engagement, which impacts achievement due to the changes in the learning environment[1]. F2F course strategies that are known to engage students may not work for online formats, and engaging online students can be difficult as students often feel isolated and detached [2]. There are a limited number of studies that report on or compare course strategies for online students. Strategies that support student success in online course offerings are valuable for student engagement, especially for upper-level programming intensive courses in computer science (CS)[4].

We present an approach to redesigning the F2F version of a Web-based Application Design and Development course and developing its online offering. We incorporated 17 course strategies in both the F2F and online formats including, course structure/sequence, course book, online class discussion, study group discussion, and weekly activity. We conducted an IRB approved study to examine: How valuable do students find the course strategies to be for their engagement (dependent variable) in F2F and online formats (independent variables) of an upper-level on-campus undergraduate CS course?

We utilized an experimental research design to conduct this study in a doctoral university with high research activity located in the south-eastern US during its Aug-Dec 2019 semester. There were 103 online students and 72 F2F students who were taught by the same instructor. To answer the above research question, we asked students in an end-of-semester survey to evaluate each of the 17 course strategies in terms of their engagement with the course and/or course topics using a 5-point Likert scale that ranged from "not valuable" to "very valuable".

The mean and standard deviation (SD) value of five example course strategies are shown in Table ~\reftab:course-strategies for the students who completed the survey and consented to participate in the study. Independent t-tests were conducted to compare how the course strategies supported engagement in the F2F and online formats, and we found significant differences between course formats for some of the course strategies despite having no significant difference in terms of student learning.

We found empirical evidence that students' perceived some course strategies, including course structure/sequence to be more valuable in the online format, while study group discussion to be more useful in the F2F format. Also, some strategies including weekly activity were useful in both the formats. Our results show how course strategies supporting student engagement can inform online, F2F, and hybrid courses design in CS, especially as the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to require online or hybrid instruction. Future work will consider analysis on student learning and engagement. Additionally, we will examine course strategies to create a stronger community in the online space, and to improve online engagement.