Classrooms vs screens: Learning outcomes from a business school

This paper examines the impact of substituting regular classroom programmes with online classes on students’ academic performance. We compared the change in the delivery mechanism of preparatory courses for two consecutive Master of Business Administration (MBA) batches in one of the top business schools in India. While the first batch studied in a face-to-face classroom setting, the second batch was taught two subjects in an online format, while the third subject continued to be offered in the face-to-face classroom setting. Using a difference-in-difference estimation, we found that the students' performance declined in both the subjects offered online, with the average performance declining by 4.95% and 8.4% in Economics and Accounting, respectively. However, no decline in performance was noted in the third subject of Quantitative Methods, offered in a face-to-face classroom setting. Further, we found a larger drop in scores for students with the lowest academic ability. Our results indicate that a shift to online courses should be accompanied by well-designed pedagogical and curriculum changes to ensure substantive learning, especially for academically weaker students.