From its first Web-based course in summer 1996, with approximately 75 students, the initiative has grown to 15,000 students in courses that feature some form of Web enhancement. Web component courses at UCF offer relief from rapid growth pressures while maintaining academic excellence. In addition, Web presence has little differential impact on students of varying ethnicity.
Women succeed at higher rates than do men in fully online courses.
Department and course modality emerge as the best predictors when assessing predictive capability for success in courses using department, modality, ethnicity, and gender. Despite the increased workload, instructors express high satisfaction and a strong willingness to continue teaching in the Web-based mode. In contrast, neither the level of faculty workload or their years of experience explain their degree of satisfaction with web-based teaching. The university uses impact evaluation results to redirect its efforts at developing E, M, and W courses. This is accomplished by responding to program needs, demographics, and student appraisal of the online environment.