2017 ASHS Annual Conference

An important institutional issue at many large public and private universities is lack of classroom space. Current challenges with distance education are to create courses in a minimum amount of time, expense, and technical skill, yet produce an educationally sound curriculum. Our study goals were to assess methodologies in regards to instructor performance, student learning outcomes and incorporate new online technology. Educational objectives for the course comparisons of ‘‘Organic Farming and Gardening” analyzed yearly cohorts of student enrollment, academic grades, knowledge gain, instructor performance, and student satisfaction to examine instructional effectiveness of a learning management system (eCollege; Pearson eCollege, Denver, CO). Our summarized results showed that 114 undergraduate students registered from years 2007 to 2009. Due to high demand and insufficient classroom space, this conventional curriculum was reformatted with identical course content into both a hybrid and a fully online version in which 361 students registered from years 2010 to 2012 and 336 students from 2013 to 2015. In comparing conventional instruction with hybrid and fully online versions over a 9-year period, few significant differences were found in final grades involving 811 students. Over their 6-year span, the conventional class average of 89.6% was higher compared with 88.3% for the hybrid format and 86.8% for the online format. Student evaluation surveys assessed faculty performance with eight evaluative questions on a 1 to 5 scale. No significant difference existed between teaching in person vs. remotely, averaging 4.35 for the hybrid and 4.17 for the online. There were no significant differences in comparing educational methodology, technology, student confidence, and class satisfaction. Student responses indicated a significant preference overall for hybrid and online course formats compared with conventional methods. Registration numbers indicated an overwhelming choice for online education with an average class enrollment of 91.0 students compared with 38.0 students for conventional classes and 25.2 students for the hybrid format. We believe that all three formats can exist concurrently and effectively extend the educational reach. Faculty and administrators may also prefer the totally online system in recycling quality presentations digitally, saving travel time, reducing transport expenses, minimizing classroom space and increasing tuition dollars. We conclude that sophomore to senior students can benefit with a wider choice of both hybrid and totally online classes that provide independent study projects emphasizing student centered, faculty guided instruction. The quantifiable data found in this study supports the quality, effectiveness, and utility of these distance education methods.