Joanne Hood^1,, Yuchun Chen², Lorraine Jacques³, Dustin Hebert¹

Previous research has conducted on the sense of community, effectiveness, and learning experience in the face-to-face, hybrid, and online classes. Student preference on any of the delivery methods has not been extensively studied and none was a comparison study of all three delivery methods. This study investigated the perceived course delivery methods of graduate students and faculty at a southeastern university in the United States. Data were collected using a survey modified from Shantakumari and Sajith’s (2015) work. Principal component analysis was used to analyze the survey, yielding three factors (i.e., learning experience, self-efficacy, and ease of use) explaining 73.8% of the variance. Internal reliability was then calculated using Cronbach’s alpha for the entire instrument and for each factor. An overall reliability was above .94 and most of the factors were above .8. Repeated measures ANOVAs were used to determine if there was any significant difference in how the participants rated each delivery method. The overall sample showed interaction effects between the students and faculty on learning experience and self-efficacy, but not on ease of use. Students preferred learning experience in face-to-face and hybrid over online courses. Student sample indicated no significant difference in preferred delivery method regarding self-efficacy or ease of use. Faculty preferred face-to-face, followed by hybrid, followed by online delivery in the learning experience factor, and face-to-face over hybrid and online delivery in the self-efficacy and ease of use factors. The findings provide insight that could support decision-making on course offerings, delivery methods, and faculty workload assignments.

delivery methods, face-to-face, hybrid, online, virtual learning