title: Comparison of online and traditional ethics education: a pilot study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This research note describes a pilot study that tested the feasibility measures for ascertaining whether students in an online ethics course learn as much as, less than, or more than students enrolled in a traditional (classroom) ethics course.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participating students in both the online and traditional courses completed a Technology Survey to measure possible group differences in terms of their familiarity and comfort level with using a computer, and a Richness of Experience Survey to garner their perceptions of the learning environment of the course. Students' academic performance in the two classes were also compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The Technology Survey revealed no statistically significant differences between the two groups at the .05 level on any of the items, with the exception of the item about the convenience of attending class. The groups did not differ in terms of their performance on any of the academic performance criteria, although the descriptive data were suggestive. Finally, the data from the Richness of Experience Survey also showed no distinction between the groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Because the number of participants is very small, this analysis had low power. The descriptive data presented indicate that further research into differences on the essay portion of the exam may be warranted.
authors.affiliation: University of Nebraska Medical Center, 986075 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6075, USA. tschonfeld@unmc.edu
authors.forename: Toby L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Schonfeld
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Stoddard
mesh_terms: D003197:Computer Literacy; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction; D004992:Ethics, Medical / Q000193:education*; D010865:Pilot Projects; D013337:Students, Medical; D013663:Teaching