USA and Asia Hospitality & Tourism Students' Perceptions and Satisfaction with Online Learning versus Traditional Face-to-Face Instruction

The purpose of the study is to compare undergraduates' preference for, and academic performance on, class material and assessment presented online vs. in traditional classrooms. This study examined these issues in the context of hospitality and tourism majors at Midwestern USA universities as compared to similar students attending universities in Asia. Data for this study was the undergraduate student survey responses from these programs. The sample consisted of 356 students with about 66% from USA (n=234) and 34% from Asia (n=122). Analysis of the means using the Kruskal-Wallis test and standard deviations were conducted to evaluate if there were any differences in USA vs. Asian student learning perceptions and level of satisfaction with online learning compared with traditional instruction. One-way ANOVA was used to compare means between the two regions. Differences between online and face-to-face learning environments in the two regions were tested with a series of two-factor ANOVAs with region as between-subjects factor and mode of learning as a within-subjects factor. The results revealed that there were no statistically significant difference in learning preference and both USA and Asian students were very satisfied with both modes of instruction. Based on the results of this study, and given the trends in online courses, there are implications for faculty; the results should give some faculty members a reason to move some of their courses taught to an online platform and reflect on the teaching methods used when teaching online.