Abstract:

This study is a continuation of the findings from an online hybrid non-credit distance learning research course developed by the Virtual Academy (VirtAC) in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) of the Volgenau School of Engineering (VSE) at George Mason University (GMU). The development and research is funded by a grant from Cisco Systems.

An initial study compared the effectiveness of traditional and social media marketing strategies in launching the first online non-credit 24-week Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) course. Preliminary cost and conversion metrics from the first course supported the use of social media to market the course. The second study analyzed the results of the marketing activities for the second offering of the course that impacted retention and satisfaction.

This third study compares student performance enrolled in the same CCNA course delivered online as a non-credit certification offering compared to performance in online and face-to-face for credit courses offered at the same university.

The comparisons of hands-on laboratory scores and final scores across four modules for online and face-to-face classes for credit and non-credit offerings were done. We used two sample Welch t-Tests to compare the unbalanced groups. Results are mixed with the experimental non-credit online courses showing no significant difference in performance. The comparison of face-to-face and online for credit courses showed a significant positive difference for the online course. There were no significant differences between performance on the final test in three out of four modules when comparing the online non-credit courses with credit courses.

The findings support the effectiveness of the delivery of corporate technical training using hybrid online methods.

Keywords:

Learning Analytics, Online Technical Course, Credit and Non-Credit Courses.