"It's Just Nice Having a Real Teacher": Student Perceptions of Online versus Face-to-Face Instruction

Abstract With recent increases in online enrollment, undergraduate students are far more likely to experience an onlinelearning environment than they were in the past. While existing literature provides general insight into reasonswhy students may or may not prefer online instruction, it is unclear whether these preferences are shaped bystudent’s perceptions of online learning or actual experience with online courses. To address this gap,undergraduate students enrolled in either online (n=370) or face-to-face (n=360) courses were surveyedabout their course format preference. A content analysis of the responses was performed with the findingssuggesting that 1) student perceptions may be based on old typologies of distance education akin tocorrespondence courses, regardless of actual experience with online courses, and 2) course preferences arerelated to issues involving teaching presence and self-regulated learning. The implications of this research fordeveloping more effective online pedagogy are discussed.