1. 1 Evaluating a Web-Based Program: Digital Learning Commons Karl Nelson Digital Learning Commons karln@learningcommons.org Paul Stern WSU - Social & Economic Sciences Research Center sternpo@wsu.edu WERA March 27, 2008

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4. 4 Online courses

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6. 6 A brief history…

7. 7 So what?

8. 8 Was this course otherwise available to this student? Approximately 76% of the courses were not otherwise available.

9. 9 Would the student have graduated without this course? 33% of the students would not have graduated without taking DLC course(s).

10. 10 Would the student be “college eligible” without this course? The vast majority of college eligible students met four-year college admission requirements without the DLC courses.

11. 11 Would the student be “college prepared” without this course? More than half of the students who were college eligible took DLC classes to become more college prepared.

12. 12 Now what?

13. 13 What are the characteristics of students who are currently enrolled in DLC courses? What are the enrollment and completion patterns of students enrolled in DLC courses? What is the relationship between the online course grade earned and overall GPA? Research Questions

14. 14 Data Sources DLC staff provided enrollment records on all students enrolled in at least one course during the 2005-2006 academic year. Records included high school, courses enrolled in, completion status, and grade earned Student characteristics were obtained via a match against CSRS to obtain data on ethnicity, socio-economic status, disability status, and cumulative GPA.

15. 15 What are the characteristics of students who are currently enrolled in DLC courses? oAre DLC courses being accessed by a diverse range of students or is their use concentrated to particular types of students? Student Characteristics

16. 16 Creating a Comparison Group An Example to Consider…

17. 17 Gender

18. 18 Ethnicity

19. 19 Grade Level

20. 20 Grade Point Average (GPA)

21. 21 Student GPA Compared to Student Gender

22. 22 Region

23. 23 Special Education Students

24. 24 Free and Reduced Price Lunch

25. 25 Enrollment and Completion Patterns What are the enrollment and completion patterns of students enrolled in DLC courses? What are the characteristics of students who enroll in one DLC course? In multiple DLC courses? Are certain types of students more likely than others to complete an online course that they started?

26. 26 Number of Courses Taken

27. 27 Course Completion by Courses Taken

28. 28 Course Completion by Region

29. 29 Course Completion by Ethnicity

30. 30 Course Level

31. 31 Course Level by Region

32. 32 Course Level by Number of Courses Taken

33. 33 Course Level by GPA

34. 34 Course Subject

35. 35 Gender of Course Enrollees by Subject

36. 36 Course Grade

37. 37 Course Grade by Gender of Course Enrollees

38. 38 Grades by Number of Courses Taken in a Single Term

39. 39 Dropped Courses by Subject

40. 40 Relationship Between Online Course and Overall GPA What is the relationship between the online course grade earned and overall GPA? Do specific types of students have better relative grades in online courses than others? In which subjects do students get the highest and lowest grades online?

41. 41 Overall GPA Compared to DLC GPA

42. 42 Grades Earned in DLC Courses by Students’ Overall GPA

43. 43 Comparison of DLC and Cumulative GPA by Course Level

44. 44 Comparison of DLC and Cumulative GPA by Subject

45. 45 Outcomes

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47. 47 Who should take courses?

48. 48 Hmmm….

49. 49 Next steps…

50. 50 Report The report is available on the DLC website: www.learningcommons.org/about/dlc_archives.php (“2006-2007 External Evaluation - Online Courses”)