Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU) just announced the winners for best paper under the topic of “Leading Transformation to Sustainable Excellence.” Among the winners was Dr. Jennifer D.E. Thomas for a paper entitled “The Effect of Delivery Method on Persistence, Performance and Perceptions,” which she researched and wrote in tandem with two professors, Danielle Morin and Samie Li Shang Ly, from Concordia University, Canada.
The paper took into account the different delivery methods of courses for undergraduate students. With a rise in online classes in today’s culture – especially at Pace, where we rank at 3rd best in the nation for online undergraduate courses – it’s important to study the new methods of learning so that, as challenges and innovations arise, universities can analyze them in order to enhance educational practices. Thomas, Ly, and Morin looked at classes that were completely online as well as classes that were a hybrid between online and traditional practices.
From the extended abstract of the paper, the conclusion of their research is summarized as,
“The results of the studies conducted in this paper support the need for a hybrid model of learning, which augments in-class lectures with a level of online component. This would tend to imply the need to carefully evaluate MOOC’s [Massive Online Open Courses] before widespread adoption of them is made. Monetary expediency should not trump wise pedagogy.”
We extend the heartiest of congratulations to Dr. Thomas and her partners in research for their excellence!