AN ANALYSIS OF THE PERCEIVED BENEFITS AND AFFORDANCES OF COURSE WEBSITES BY ON-CAMPUS AGRICULTURAL STUDENTS AND FACULTY MEMBERS

Many institutions are now delivering online classes to on-campus students (NCES, 2002). In this study, survey research methods were employed to examine the benefits and useful components or affordances of on-campus course websites. A census of teaching faculty in a land grant college of agriculture was surveyed, and a stratified sample of students was drawn to represent the college population in their class standing and academic major. The final sample population, faculty and students, numbered 1,567. Students and faculty did not perceive the same benefits from course websites, in either amount or type. Course websites were perceived as benefiting students more than faculty. Students and faculty also failed to agree on the usefulness of the components of course websites. In general, faculty members were more optimistic than students regarding the usefulness of course website components. The findings of this study suggest that the most useful components of course websites, as perceived by both faculty and students, are also the easiest to implement. The findings suggest a diminishing returns relationship exists between the amount of additional effort expended by faculty members to implement a website component and the students’ perceptions of its usefulness.