ONLINE EVALUATIONS OF ONLINE COURSES: ANOTHER OBSTACLE TO INVOLVING FULL TIME FACULTY IN DISTANCE LEARNING?

While there are many criticisms of online courses, their growth is beyond doubt. Nearly a third of all college students in the United States is taking at least one course online, and that percentage is increasing. As the many controversial facets of comparing online with traditional courses increase-- only 30% of full-time professors approve of them,-- there is one issue that is almost ignored. Many studies have indicated that there is a significant inherent difference between student evaluations presented online versus those that are done in the traditional in class paper and pencil manner. On the positive side, online comments tend to be considerably more detailed, and probably thereby more valuable and qualitatively superior. But many studies over the past decade have indicated that online evaluations overall tend to be lower, that is, more critical of the instructor. Does this present a disadvantage that automatically favors traditional delivery methods over online?

This paper examines the possible effect of this phenomenon from three perspectives: the decision of professors to pursue competence in teaching online courses, the challenges of comparing online versus traditional evaluation strategies, and university level decisions to implement or not implement new online programs. Several possible solution scenarios will be offered.