Speed of Light Versus Speed of Sound: Comparing Online and Face‐To‐Face Undergraduate Business Law Courses

While undergraduate business law classes are taught around the world, there is scant literature comparing online and face‐to‐face versions of these courses. This study compared quiz scores, exam scores, final grades, and dropout rates across six years for over 1,100 online and face‐to‐face students enrolled in an upper division undergraduate business law course. The study also analyzed students' comprehension of the legal topics covered. The differences in online and face‐to‐face modalities were significant, but more importantly, showed that face‐to‐face business law students outperformed those in the online sections. The study contributes to the growing empirical literature on the effectiveness of face‐to‐face and online modalities. First, it provided a direct comparison between online and traditional instruction with business law students in an undergraduate setting with the same instructor. Second, it identified topics that were problematic for both sets of students.