Instructor Time and Effort in Online and Face-to-Face Teaching: Lessons Learned

Results in past studies comparing teaching time and effort in online and face-to-face (FTF) teaching environments have been inconsistent. This research study compares the instructional time and effort it took the authors to teach the same course online and FTF in their respective universities. The authors hypothesize that it takes more time to teach online courses. The results of the two-semester study show that both authors spent more time per student, approximately 20% more, in the online courses. In the total time spent per student online compared to the total time spent per student FTF, the paired-samples t-test showed a statistically significant difference (t(3)=6.163 , p=0.009). The authors speculate a number of factors contributed to this difference and the perception that teaching in an online environment takes more time and effort than teaching in a FTF environment.