Students' Views About Potentially Offering Physics Courses Online

Nationally, many public universities have started to move into the online course and program market that is most often associated with for-profit institutions of higher education. Administrators in public universities make statements regarding benefits to students' desire for flexibility and profit margins related to online courses. But do students attending a large public university want to take courses online especially science courses perceived to be difficult such as freshmen-level physics courses? This study took place at a large, public, Midwestern university and involved students enrolled in the first semester of a face-to-face, flipped physics course for engineering technology majors. Statements were collected from comments about online courses made by the university's administration and students in the course. Twenty students sorted 45 statements. Two student views emerged with one rejecting online courses in general and the other primarily rejecting online math, science, and technology courses, including physics. Students' descriptions of their previous online course experiences were used to inform the analyses and to assist in describing the two views that emerged in conjunction with the distinguishing statements. Consensus among the two views is also discussed. Overall, the results indicate a potential divergence between student views and what university administrators believe students want.