Autonomous Learning in Online and Traditional Versions of a Software Engineering Course

This paper reports on a comparison of student opinion of student-defined projects and self-grading strategies between students in online and face-to-face environments as part of an ongoing survey-based study into strategies that support autonomous learning. The course used in the study is a Web Application Design and Development course which is part of the Software Engineering certificate and software concentration in the MSCS at Rensselaer (RPI) at Hartford. The study has been underway since the fall of 2001 and has an audience of working professional students. During the spring 2004 semester, the course was offered in both an online and a face-to-face format with roughly equivalent numbers of students in both sections. Students were surveyed towards the beginning and at the end of the semester on their opinions of the approaches used in the course and of their learning. This paper presents some background in autonomous or self-directed learning, describes the study including the approach and environment, and discusses results of student surveys comparing results for online and face-to-face students