Description
Consistent with their missions, community colleges have generally been open to adopting technologies that show promise of extending educational possibilities for students. In recent years, community colleges have added an array of online courses with the expectation that they would expand access to students who are limited by time, transportation, work, and/or family constraints. The purpose of this study is to analyze the success of online courses in comparison with traditional courses by analyzing the transcripts of students who have enrolled in both traditional and online courses. Specifically, in this study, student transcripts were analyzed from the Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC). Data was collected from the academic years of 2005 to 2009 and disaggregated by demographic and academic information. Findings indicate that significant differences in grade point average (GPA) and course completion ratio (CCR) exist between students' performance in traditional and online courses. Specifically, students on average attain higher GPAs and CCRs in traditional courses when compared to their traditional courses. Furthermore, students' demographic categories and course taking behaviors were positively correlated with higher rates of success in online courses.
