ABSTRACT This study investigates whether differences in learning styles exist between students in online and face-to-face (FTF) sections of political science courses taught by three instructors. Some studies suggest that student preferences regarding online or FTF formats are influenced by their preferred modes of learning. Independent learners, for example, may prefer online courses since they provide individualistic opportunities to study outside of the traditional classroom. This study uses original survey data to assign students one of six learning styles in order to assess whether independent learners are more common in online courses. Our analysis finds no significant differences in independent learners when comparing the two formats. This finding runs counter to studies that argue that independent learners tend to prefer online courses. In fact, the only learning style where we observe a meaningful difference among online and FTF formats is among dependent learners. Contrary to expectation, students enrolled in online versions demonstrated a greater tendency toward dependent modes of learning. Further survey responses suggest that student lifestyle drove course format selection rather than learning style. These findings have important implications for universities that increasingly turn to online courses to address decreasing enrollments and attempt to remedy the high attrition rates associated with those courses.

中文翻译：

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课程形式和学生学习风格：政治学课程的比较

摘要 本研究调查了由三位教师教授的政治学课程的在线和面对面 (FTF) 部分的学生之间是否存在学习风格的差异。一些研究表明，学生对在线或 FTF 格式的偏好受到他们偏好的学习模式的影响。例如，独立学习者可能更喜欢在线课程，因为它们提供了在传统课堂之外学习的个性化机会。本研究使用原始调查数据为学生分配六种学习风格中的一种，以评估独立学习者在在线课程中是否更常见。在比较两种格式时，我们的分析没有发现独立学习者的显着差异。这一发现与那些认为独立学习者倾向于喜欢在线课程的研究背道而驰。事实上，我们观察到在线和 FTF 格式之间存在有意义差异的唯一学习方式是在依赖学习者之间。与预期相反，在线版本的学生表现出更大的依赖学习模式的倾向。进一步的调查结果表明，学生的生活方式决定了课程形式的选择，而不是学习方式。这些发现对于越来越多地转向在线课程以解决入学率下降问题并试图弥补与这些课程相关的高流失率的大学具有重要意义。进一步的调查结果表明，学生的生活方式决定了课程形式的选择，而不是学习方式。这些发现对于越来越多地转向在线课程以解决入学率下降问题并试图弥补与这些课程相关的高流失率的大学具有重要意义。进一步的调查结果表明，学生的生活方式决定了课程形式的选择，而不是学习方式。这些发现对于越来越多地转向在线课程以解决入学率下降的问题并试图弥补与这些课程相关的高流失率的大学具有重要意义。