Assessing Virtual Students' Quiz Performance in Web-Mediated Synchronous Instruction

Differences in teaching presence between virtual and traditional venues for a synchronous public budgeting class are examined by comparing the results of lecture-based quizzes. Previous studies, usually based on surveys, have focused on multiple aspects of virtual learners’ experiences through the community of inquiry model. This research emphasizes virtual learners’ ability to absorb lectures through web-mediated broadcasts, hosted via a commercial product. Statistical analysis indicated slightly poorer performance by virtual attendees, but with the impact limited narrowly to certain lecture topics. Ancillary uses of the broadcasts are also described, including enhancement of an asynchronous online budgeting class using recorded lectures.