Comparison and Contrast of Two Articles - Essay Example

Beyrer’s (2010) article in turn seeks to find a solution that addressed the technical difficulties plaguing students, and hampering learning in online classes. Both articles used the term online to refer to a certain form of instructional method, people, or abilities that make use of the World Wide Web. In “Comparing Student Achievement in Online and Face-to-Face Class Formats,” Dell, Low and Wilker (2010) used the term online to refer to a form of teaching method that was used as a basis for comparison with the more traditional chalk and blackboard method of teaching, which has been practiced for years.

They used the term to refer to a world wide web-aided learning that professors used to channel their lessons and teachings. Dell, Low and Wilker’s (2010) wrote that: A research project was conducted to analyze student achievement using submitted assignments for two sections of a graduate course in human development and learning, taught both online and face-to-face, as well as three sections of undergraduate educational psychology, two of which were taught face-to-face, and one taught online. (p. 30) In this paragraph, the authors used online to give readers a mental picture of how the online teaching format was done; it also elucidates the items used from which to draw a quantifiable comparison between the two teaching platforms used.

“Online teaching and learning is now commonly offered in teacher education programs, with students enrolled in either individual classes or entire programs online” (Dell, Low, & Wilker, 2010, p. 30). Here, the authors used online to refer to a list of courses that students can take via the web. According to the Montgomery College in Maryland (2006), online courses are convenient, flexible, individualized, promote life-long learning, and are cost-effective. The growing popularity of online courses has led the proponents to explore its efficiency in delivering quality education minus the four corners of the classroom.

Since online instruction and research methodology are under scrutiny, especially in terms of student achievement, researchers should continue to focus on comparing face-to-face and online class student outcomes, as well as the development of best practices in online pedagogy. (Dell, Low & Wilker, 2010) Online in this paragraph was again used to refer to the teaching platform that was being compared against the standard face-to-face method of teaching. Apart from referring to it as a new teaching method used, online in the third line also refers to the group of students that are learning from, or are enrolled in the said method of instruction.

The “Online Student Success: Making a Difference” by Beyrer (2010), on the other hand, used online, still, to refer to a world wide web-associated body of knowledge; however, the term this time is not associated with a method of teaching employed by professors. Instead, it is mostly used to denote an online course that can help prepare, and equip students in troubleshooting future problems encountered while learning online. Beyrer wrote: “This research project examines the effectiveness of one answer to this question.

Cosumnes River College offers a course to meet this need, Online Student Suc