Distance Education at Montgomery College: Trending Success

By Dr. Michael Mills, Vice President of E-Learning, Innovation and Teaching Excellence, Montgomery College

Researchers at the University of California-Davis recently released a study that revealed community college students throughout California were 11 percent less likely to pass an online course than a face-to-face version of the same class.  At Montgomery College, we see a different story.

As the accompanying infographic reveals, Montgomery College distance students are as equally successful as students in traditional classes.  For Fall 2014, 53 percent of distance (blended and online) students received an A or B grade, compared to 54 percent in traditional classes.  If you remove blended students, the percentage for online is still a healthy 51 percent.

Numerous efforts are attributable to the overall success of MC distance students, including offering distance students the same counseling, advising and academic support services as on-campus students. In addition, a number of faculty have participated in Quality Matters training that focuses on designing courses that engage students and have assessments aligned with course objectives; 26 courses have gone through the QM peer review process with an additional nine currently under review.

Growth continues in distance courses at MC, as the graphic demonstrates.  For the calendar year 2014, there were more than 20,800 enrollments in blended and online courses. The Office of E-Learning, Innovation and Teaching Excellence continues to work with interested faculty to offer more courses in a distance format.  Beginning in the fall semester, Business and Computer Science degrees will be offered online; General Studies will soon follow.