The purpose of this study is twofold. We first test if there is a significant difference in the means of final course completion grades between two instructional modalities, face-to-face and online, in a required Introductory Economics course at a large, public, southeastern university. We then examine various determinants as potential predictors of student academic performance. To this end, we investigate the effects of students' gender, age, major, semester choice and prior GPA on academic performance in both instructional modalities. In our initial analysis, our hypothesis testing results show that there is no statistically significant difference in the final course completion grade means between the two modalities. Regression results further indicate that students’ gender, age, major (STEM and Business), semester choice (Traditional and Accelerated), and prior GPA have a significant effect on final course completion grades in face-to-face classes, with prior GPA, semester choice, and STEM major being the strongest predictors of academic performance. Students’ prior GPA, gender, and major (STEM) are also the strongest predictors of final course completion grades in online classes.
https://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/summer242/kelani_doral_post242.html
