Evaluation of student outcomes in online vs. campus biostatistics education in a graduate school of public health

Objective. To compare student outcomes between concurrent online and on-campus sections of an introductory biostatistics course offered at a United States school of public health in 2005. Methods. Enrolled students (95 online, 92 on-campus) were invited to participate in a confidential online survey. The course outcomes were compared between the two sections adjusting for differences in student characteristics. Results. Seventy-two online (76%) and 66 (72%) on-campus enrollees participated. Unadjusted final exam scores for the online and on-campus sections were respectively 85.1 and 86.3 (p = 0.50) in term 1, and 87.8 and 86.8 (p = 0.51) in term 2. After adjustment for student characteristics, the average difference in scores between the two sections was - 1.5 (95% CI: -5.4, 2.5) in term 1, and 0.8 (95% CI: -2.7, 4.3) in term 2. Conclusions. The results demonstrate that online and on-campus course formats of an introductory biostatistics course in a graduate school of public health can achieve similar student outcomes. (c) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.