Variations in learning, motivation, and perceived immediacy between live and distance education classrooms

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Abstract
One‐hundred and twenty lower division and 49 upper division undergraduate students enrolled in a small Midwestern university were randomly assigned to three experimental educational settings: a live classroom, a video classroom, and an audio with Powerpoint display classroom. The lower division students viewed a brief lecture presented in the live classroom and simulcast to the other two settings. The upper division students viewed a 45 minute lecture presented in the live classroom and simulcast to the other two settings. The impact of the settings on participant learning, motivation, and perceived teacher immediacy was assessed in both studies. Perceived instructor immediacy was significantly higher for the live setting. For the longer lecture, motivation, perceived learning, affect toward the instructor, and willingness to enroll with instructor all varied significantly and were highest in the live setting. Actual short‐term learning varied significantly and was highest for the Powerpoint classroom. Student cognitive style was assessed, but the researchers found no significant variation based on this variable.