Final Course Numbers: What Did We Learn?
Ultimately, 29 students passed our two online sections of English 102, with another ten students submitting withdrawals over the course of the semester. An examination of the students' grades in relationship to their familiarity with online courses is very suggestive:
- The nine students who received A's had taken a combined 24 previous internet courses.
- The 16 students who received B's had taken a combined two previous internet courses.
- The four students who received C's had never taken internet courses before.
- The ten students who withdrew had taken one prior internet course among them.
It seems clear that student success in these courses was in direct relationship to the students' familiarity with the online course experience. What does this suggest? Are the skills needed by students to excel in online writing courses so different from those needed in face-to-face writing courses? Does a certain type of student have a better chance of thriving in an online course?
