Is it Live or is it Internet? Experimental Estimates of the Effects of Online Instruction on Student Learning

David Figlio, Mark Rush and Lu Yin

No 16089, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper presents the first experimental evidence on the effects of live versus internet media of instruction. Students in a large introductory microeconomics course at a major research university were randomly assigned to live lectures versus watching these same lectures in an internet setting, where all other factors (e.g., instruction, supplemental materials) were the same. Counter to the conclusions drawn by a recent U.S. Department of Education meta-analysis of non-experimental analyses of internet instruction in higher education, we find modest evidence that live-only instruction dominates internet instruction. These results are particularly strong for Hispanic students, male students, and lower-achieving students. We also provide suggestions for future experimentation in other settings.

JEL-codes: I20 I23 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-exp, nep-ict, nep-net and nep-ure
Note: CH ED
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

Published as "Is it Live or is it Internet? Experimental Es timates of the Effects of Online Instruction on Student Learning" (with Mark Rush and Lu Yin) Journal of Labor Economics , 2012.

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