Comparing Student Performance in Live Versus Web-based Instruction in Herbaceous Plant Identification

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate student performance after receiving the same horticultural lesson through one of two modes of instruction. Students enrolled in an introductory horticulture course received either a traditional herbaceous plant identification (ID) lesson with live plant specimens or the same lesson using only text and photographs on the Internet in one of their laboratory sessions. A follow-up experiment was conducted in which web-based students studied photographs of the exact same plants studied by students receiving traditional instruction. Learning style preferences and demographic information were obtained from surveys. For both experiments, students receiving traditional instruction had higher scores on the plant ID quiz than web-based students. All students were able to identify plants from photographs just as well as from live plant specimens. Visual learners scored higher when receiving traditional instruction when compared with web-based instruction. Student grade point average was positively correlated with quiz score for both experiments.