Evaluation in Online STEM Courses
Lawrence O. Flowers, James E. Raynor, Erin N. White

Abstract
Student enrollment in distance learning STEM programs is continually increasing. Recent developments of online instructional software and other electronic pedagogical tools have significantly improved the educational delivery of online programs. Quality online course evaluation provides the pathway to the future success of distance education. Typically, standard course evaluations only consist of summative assessment instruments. Online STEM faculty must develop and integrate both formative and summative course evaluation techniques to adequately measure the effectiveness of their online courses. Moreover, STEM faculty must employ rigorous statistical procedures when analyzing evaluation data. The study described herein utilized a quantitative survey instrument to evaluate online student perceptions. Results from 670 online and traditional student respondents were collected and analyzed for this study. Data were analyzed using regression analysis. Research findings suggested that students in traditional STEM courses reported a more favorable course experience than students enrolled in online STEM courses. This research article investigates the use of quantitative surveys and regression analysis to more effectively assess student performance and perceptions of the academic environment to improve pedagogy and student learning outcomes.

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