While administrators, faculty and students of community colleges have embraced web-based instruction, it is essential to understand the progress and success of such instruction. The primary purpose of the study was to investigate whether there were differences in completion and passing rates between courses offered in traditional classroom and web-based instructional formats that were taught by the same instructor(s) at least once using both instructional media. The secondary related purpose was to determine whether there were differences in completion and passing rates among courses taught in different academic disciplines, including both traditional and web-based courses. The population consisted of 3,601 students enrolled in courses offered in both instructional delivery formats during the academic years 1998 through 2002. The findings demonstrated that the proportion of female students enrolled in identical courses offered in the web-based format was higher than the proportion of their male counterparts enrolled in the same instructional format. Approximately two-thirds of the students enrolled in courses offered via the web-based format in this study were 23 years and older as compared with students 22 years and younger. Differences in both completion and passing rates were found between the traditional and web-based formats. In both instances the rates for traditional instruction were higher. When course grade point averages (GPAs) were compared in both formats, courses offered in the traditional classroom setting had higher mean GPAs as compared with the mean GPAs of identical courses taught by the same instructor or instructors in the web-based delivery method. Regarding differences among academic divisions, for the courses offered in the traditional format, no differences in the mean course completion rates were found. However, there were differences for identical courses offered in the web-based format. The study's findings revealed that there were differences in the mean passing rates for courses offered in traditional format. When the GPAs were compared among the seven academic divisions, differences were found for courses offered in the traditional format. Despite no differences found in course completion rates between younger and older students in web-based instructional format, significant differences were found in identical courses offered in the traditional setting.

The dissertation deals with the experimental research that examines the effectiveness of the ESP e-learning course of Business English in comparison with the method of face-to-face instruction. The literature review has revealed the absence of scientific research in the field of our investigation. It has justified why our proposed research study should be conducted and led us to the rationale for our research. The main objective of this dissertation was to find out whether the e-learning method was as effective as the face-to-face instruction, i.e., whether there were no statistically significant differences between the results of the students who completed the e-learning course (experimental group) and those who completed the face-to-face course (control group). Simultaneously, we examined whether there were any statistically significant differences in the results of the students at the beginning of the course and at the end of the course within individual groups, i.e., whether the students improved their skills and vocabulary. The supplementary objective was to find out the students' opinions on the effectiveness of e- learning depending on the frequencies of their responses and on their qualitative signs. The practical outcome is the ESP e-learning course for the subject of Business English in...

This applied dissertation was designed to understand and explore the experiences of graduate students at a public four-year higher education institution in the southeastern region of the United States. This study utilized an interview based phenomenological qualitative study design approach for data collection and analysis. Committees in the field of higher education reviewed and approved the interview protocol. The research study and data analysis were conducted in the Spring Semester of 2017. The researcher employed semi-structured interviews that were guided by ten protocol questions. Transcription accuracy, credibility, and trustworthiness were established through diligent adherence to university protocols. The collected data revealed themes that supported the researchers’ understanding of graduate students’ perception of engagement and experiences in face-to-face, online, and blended classroom settings. The qualitative research study provides in-depth insight for future enrollees and program development. The selected institution’s IRB and Nova Southeastern University’s IRB granted permission to conduct the study. A phenomenological approach was used to maximize exploration of graduate students’ perception of engagement and experiences in face-to-face, online, and blended graduate level classroom settings. Ten protocol questions guided the semi-structured interviews. Subsequent to the scheduled 60-minute interviews, Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to describe the meaning of several individuals’ perceptions. The most prevalent theme that emerged was a lack of meaningful social interaction, or student engagement, in online formats. Once the data had been analyzed, recommendations for future research were provided to support the needs of a graduate student population on university campuses.