Student Exam Participation and Performances in a Web-Enhanced Traditional and Hybrid Allied Health Biology Course
ABSTRACT
This study compares student exam participation, performances and withdrawal rates in a web-enhanced traditional and hybrid Anatomy and Physiology II class. Although hybrid students had the convenience of attempting online tests over a period of a week, there was no difference in exam participation relative to traditional students that did the exams during a regularly scheduled class. About half of hybrid students did not attempt the four hourly online exams a second time, and over three quarter of them did not use their third attempt. Students in the hybrid sections generally waited until the last day, or after reminders were posted a day or two earlier, to make their first attempt. Overall, there were no significant differences in student performances between the traditional and hybrid students. Hybrid students had slight, but insignificant, improvements in performance in the four hourly exams, most likely due to the few students attempting the exams more than once. In contrast, web enhanced traditional students performed slightly better in the comprehensive final exam conducted on campus for both groups. Overall, the grade distribution for the two groups was similar, especially for D and C students, with hybrid students having more withdrawals and a lower failure rate.
SOURCE: MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching
