Assessing the Costs and Benefits of Telelearning: A Case Study ...

Section A: Student Characteristics
Findings
Students were asked to respond to a number of questions regarding their personal
characteristics, work commitments, computer use, goals, and response to various course
delivery methods. Regarding personal characteristics, students were asked to respond to
the following four questions: 1. "Gender", 2. "Year of birth", 3. "Highest level of
education", and 4. "Grade point average for last term". Response categories for level of
education include: "some high school", "high school completed", "some post secondary
credit", "certificate", "diploma", "Bachelor's degree", "Master's degree", and "Doctorate".
Table 2 provides the results of these items.
Table 2
Student Characteristics
Item Number of
Students
Responding
Mean Standard
Deviation
Gender
• male (14%) 2 n/a n/a
• female (86%) 12 n/a n/a
Age (range 24-48 years) 14 37.36 6.16
Highest level of education
• bachelor's degree 9 n/a n/a
• master's degree 3 n/a n/a
• doctorate (medical) 2 n/a n/a
Grade point average last term
• percent (range 77-85%) 11 81.86 2.55
• did not take courses last term 3 n/a n/a
As can be seen in Table 2 almost all of the students in this course (that responded
to the questionnaire) are female, and females comprised 62% of the class group. The age
of the students ranged from 24-48 years old with the average age around 37. Three of the
students did not take courses in the previous term. Of the 11 who did, their grade point
average ranged from 77-85% with a mean of 81.86%. Most of the students had
completed a Bachelor's degree (9) with three having completed a Master's degree. Two
of the students were medical doctors.
Students were also asked to respond to the following six questions regarding work
commitments (these include educational, paid employment, and family commitments): 1.
"How many courses are you currently enrolled in?", 2. "How many courses have you
taken in the past twelve months, including those in which you are currently enrolled?", 3.
"What is your student status?", 4. "Are you currently employed (paid work)?", 5. "If yes,
on average, how many hours a week do you work for pay?", and 6. "Are you the primary
caregiver in your family?". Table 3 illustrates the results of these items.
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