Student perceptions on course delivery methods

Instructors at the off-campus teaching programs at the University of Florida deliver course work leading to the Bachelor of Science degree using a variety of distance education (DE) technologies in addition to on-site instruction. These DE technologies include interactive video conferencing, videotape, and web-based courses. The question often arises as to the optimum ratio of DE to, live on-site instruction. Another question arises as how to best utilize the time of instructors through the use of team-taught and module taught courses. Two student surveys were conducted at the University of Florida Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center to ascertain how students perceive the quality of education they are receiving using a mixture of course delivery methods. It appears from the surveys that student-instructor interaction is important to the learning process. Off-campus programs with on-site instruction and DE courses appear to be the best alternative.