The Effect of Synchronous and Asynchronous Participation on Students' Performance in Online Accounting Courses

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between MBA students' performance and participation in two online environments: a synchronous forum (chat room) and an asynchronous forum (discussion board) at an Australian university. The quality and quantity of students' participation is used to predict their final examination and course grade performance outcomes. We find that the total quality of students' participation is positively related to final examination performance but the total quantity of students' participation is related to overall course performance. We also find that synchronous engagement with the course (combined quality and quantity) drives these results and has twice the examination and grade impact relative to asynchronous course engagement. We conclude that encouraging high quality and frequent participation in both synchronous and asynchronous forums will help maximise students' performance.

Keywords:

• Online learning
• synchronous
• asynchronous
• participation
• performance

Acknowledgments

This article has benefited from comments by the Editor, an Associate Editor, two anonymous referees and conference participants. Any errors or omissions remain the responsibility of the authors.

Notes

This review, discussed in Arbaugh (2005a), included management education publications such as Journal of Management Education; Management Learning; Journal of Education for Business; and Business Communication Quarterly.

See Brower's (2003) paper for a thorough description of the rationale behind her use of asynchronous discussion boards in an online executive MBA OB/HR course.

The scree test is the accepted method for determining the number of factors to extract. The scree test involves graphing the Eigen values and looking for where a ‘scree’ forms which is the natural bend or break point in the data where the curve flattens out (Costello and Osborne, 2005; Rummel, 1970).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Keith Duncan

This paper was edited and accepted by Richard M. S. Wilson.

Amy Kenworthy

This paper was edited and accepted by Richard M. S. Wilson.

Ray McNamara

This paper was edited and accepted by Richard M. S. Wilson.