QUALITY OF ONLINE
DOCTORAL EDUCATION:
CULTURAL ASPECT
CASE STUDY OF THE USA
Svitlana Buko, PhD,
Research Director
Precedent Academics, Ukraine
1

New US approaches to education
• Classical (traditional) Universities of USA offer
online programs and miscellaneous
(combined/blended) programs for students and
postgraduates
• According to a U.S. higher education market
national survey 96 % of American Universities
offer online teaching (Sloan Report 2011)
• New tendency in US education: Online “virtual”
Universities (with no campus): University of
Phoenix, Capella University, Walden University.
2
www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/goingthedistance.pdf

Where is US with Doctorate Degrees?
3

Ratings of Schools
The most popular online schools in the US
according to different ratings are:
• University of Phoenix Online
• Liberty University Online
• Colorado Technical University Online
• Capella University online
• Walden University
4

Profile of learners in on-line doctorate
programs in USA
Doctoral students tend to be
• older,
• usually employed.
• They hold additional employment and family
responsibilities, as compared to the more
traditional student.
5

Quality of Online Education
6

Faculty is evaluated by University
•
•
•
•
7
Faculty trainings
Faculty meetings
Senior lead roles
Qualitative and quantitative evaluation of
faculty performance in the online
environment

Faculty is evaluated by students
8

Why teach online?
9
http://sloanconsortium.org/node/184
C Sloan 2013

Myths of online learning (US)
• Myth #1: Online learning will reduce the need for
faculty.
• Myth # 2: All online courses are the same.
• Myth # 3: The quality of outcomes is less for an
online student than for one who has received the
same instruction in a classroom.
• Myth #4: Credentials earned online are not
accepted by employers
Sourse: Forbes, 2012
10

Quality of online education in the USA
Quality is defined by faculty acceptance,
comparison to face-to-face, ability to meet the
needs of the students, acceptance of online
degrees by potential employers.
11

• Thank you!
• Questions?
12