Running Head: ONLINE VS. CLASSROOM
Does Students Who Learn On-line Have Better Grades Than Students Who Learn In a Classroom Setting?

Abstract

On April 5, 2013 we have conducted a survey on the campus of Bowie State University with fifty students who have completed a Introduction to Business class online or in class. Our purpose was to see if online learning is the best way to retain information as studies from our literature, journal articles, and web blogs have shown. Afterwards we compared our findings from our survey to our previous researched articles and came up with the conclusion that when it comes to this particular course it is recommended to take this class the traditional way, in a classroom setting rather than online. Majority of students felt like the professors was not putting in the extra effort to make sure that the students retain the information, so it motivated students to have the same attitude towards completing their assignments. Which shows that online learning is not as easy going as we all believe it to be, professors and students have to put two times the work in as they would in a classroom setting.

Table of Contents

Abstract ii
List of Illustrations iv
Introduction 1
Online vs. In Classroom 4
Research Method & Results 6
Conclusion & Recommendation 9
References 10

Introduction
In the late nineties and the early two thousands technology was the new craze. Computers went from the workplace to peoples’ homes for entertainment and eventually to the classroom. Educators believed that putting their curriculum online would improve better test scores and that students will retain more information because everything from class lectures to assignments are available at their convenience. Unlike being in class students had the power to replay lectures or read material that’s available online repeatedly to fully understand it. They also had the privilege of sending and receiving messages through Internet discussions to receive help from other classmates or professors. Educators believe that the learning online method is so successful that currently they have created online colleges, where everything is strictly online from the professors and even the grading is computerized so some courses do not require a human professor at all. Currently, students are starting to express how unhappy they are with learning online now because some are having difficulty with contacting their professors online and difficulty with technology crashing, which cause them not be able to turn their assignments in on time. Some students have difficulty with trying to reach the information that is told will be available for them online. For example, some computers are not compatible with certain software such as Microsoft or Adobe that majority of teachers use to post their syllabus or assignments.
On the campus of Bowie State University the big issue is does online learning help students to retain more information and earn better grades than learning the same curriculum in class. Furthermore on April 5, 2013, we conducted a