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In this article, the authors discuss research findings of an evaluation of Web-based courses in which the researcher controlled for student input information-using Alexander Astin's (1993) Input-Environment-Outcome assessment model. Controlling for student characteristics decreased bias and minimized the chance of incorrectly attributing outcomes to the virtual environment. The results of this study support the view that students' satisfaction was influenced by the online environment and was not due to student characteristics.
Thurmond et al. (Sun,) studied this question.