Traditional vs. PC Learning: Comparison in the Technical Communication Classroom

Carol Siri Johnson
Assistant Professor of Technical Communication, New Jersey Institute of Technology

In this presentation, I presented conclusions from six semesters - three years - of analytic online portfolio assessment in the junior-level technical communication classroom. These are the surprising results of the long term longitudinal data (555 samples):

• There are no significant differences between the scores across semesters with the exception of information literacy, which we just introduced into the curriculum (it rose).
• There are no significant differences between the scores of students who learn in traditional (blackboard) classrooms and students who learn in computer-enabled PC labs.
• There are no significant differences between the scores of online (distance) and face-to-face students' portfolios.
• There are no significant differences between the scores of FTFTFs (first-time, full-time freshmen) and transfer students from community colleges.

These are the analyses I have run so far. Other changes were seen in comparing the grades to the overall portfolio scores; at the beginning, they were not significantly correlated. The correlation rose and then leveled off during the time of the project. For information on the creation of the model and the assessment process, see my published papers, "A Decade of Research: Assessing Change in the Technical Communication Classroom Using Online Portfolios" and "The Analytic Assessment of Online Portfolios in Undergraduate Technical Communication: A Model." For reprints of the papers, email cjohnson@njit.edu.

Rhetorics and Technologies: 20th Penn State Conference on Rhetoric and Composition, State College, PA. Paper presented Tues., July 10, at 10:15 am.