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Article
Evaluation of Student Outcomes in Online vs. Campus Biostatistics Education in a Graduate School of Public Health
Preventive Medicine (2013)
  • John McGready, Johns Hopkins University
  • Ron Brookmeyer, University of California, Los Angeles
Abstract

Objective: To compare student outcomes between concurrent online and on-campus sections of an introductory biostatistics course offered at a U.S. school of public health in 2005. Methods: Enrolled students (95 online, 92 on-campus) were invited to participate in a confidential online survey. The course outcomes were compared between the two sections adjusting for differences in student characteristics. Results: Seventy-two online (76%) and 66 (72%) on-campus enrollees participated. Unadjusted final exam scores for the online and on-campus sections were respectively 85.1 and 86.3 (p = 0.50) in term 1, and 87.7 and 86.9 (p=0.58) in term 2. After adjustment for student characteristics, the average difference in scores between the two sections was -1.4 (95% CI: -5.4, 2.5) in term 1, and 0.8 (95% CI: -2.8, 4.4) in term 2. Conclusions: The results demonstrate that online and on-campus course formats of an introductory biostatistics course in a graduate school of public health can achieve similar student outcomes.

Keywords
  • education,
  • biostatistics,
  • public health
Publication Date
February, 2013
Citation Information
John McGready and Ron Brookmeyer. "Evaluation of Student Outcomes in Online vs. Campus Biostatistics Education in a Graduate School of Public Health" Preventive Medicine Vol. 56 (2013)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/rbrookmeyer/36/