Laboratory Assignments and Their Impact on Final Examination Grades: An Online Research Methods/Statistics Course

Abstract

Over the last decade, enrollment in online courses has tripled. However, the delivery of online sections of courses that typically require laboratory work on campus can present a challenge. The present study has two goals: (1) describe the laboratory assignments for an online version of an undergraduate research methods course, and (2) assess the extent to which learning in the laboratory assignments is related to grades on the final examination. Participants were 108 students completing an online course in research methods/statistics in a Carnegie Research Extensive University. Students chose a sample of 40 offenders from an online public database, the Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS), entered the data into an Excel file, and used the Excel® Data Analysis Toolkit to produce both descriptive statistics and to test a series of hypotheses including the predictors of violent offending. The dependent variable is the scores on the final examination, and the independent variable was the grades received on six laboratory assignments. Control variables included grades on a preliminary 1-hr examination and sex. In a bivariate regression, laboratory and grades explained 13% of the variance in final examination grades. However, in a multiple regression analysis, controlling for other variables, the grade on the laboratory assignments was unrelated to final examination grades. The model explained 47% of the variance in final examination grades. Standard laboratory assignments were successfully delivered in an online environment, but grades on laboratory assignments were not an independent predictor of final examination grades. Further work is needed for other fields and educational contexts.