Perception of Community and Learning in a Distance and Resident Graduate Course

Distance-learning opportunities have increased drastically in higher education over the past decade; however, there is little research on music therapy student perceptions of distance and online education. The purpose of this study was to measure perception of community (POC), perception of learning (POL), and academic performance in students enrolled in a graduate course offered face-to-face to resident-instruction (RI) students and online to distance-learning (DL) students. Participants for this study included 28 distance students and 14 resident students. Ratings on the survey indicated that students enrolled in both sections of the course had a high POL and moderate POC. An independent samples t-test indicated a significant between-group difference in POL for RI and DL students, with higher mean scores in DL students. There were no significant between-group differences for POC or academic scores. Linear regression indicated that years of experience was a significant predictor of POL. Results of this study indicated that both RI and DL students enrolled in sections of the same course had similar POC. Students in the DL section of the course showed significantly higher POL, which may be attributed to the DL student class being composed of professional students returning to school to gain further education after working in the field.