From Measuring to Achieving Educational Equivalence: Defining Equivalence Through Student Voices in Higher Education

Abstract

Current approaches to assessing the equivalence of face-to-face and online learning within the higher education sector typically involve measuring student learning outcomes. But outcomes alone do not provide a complete picture. Higher education institutions need to consider students’ perspectives if they want to achieve educational equivalence rather than simply measure it. To this end, 21 undergraduate students who had experienced both face-to-face and online study modes were interviewed. Consistently, their perceptions of equivalence focused on experiential factors rather than learning outcomes. Institutional measures represented only the tip of the iceberg: the students’ comments pointed to what lay beneath. The results of this study are presented through a model dubbed the educational equivalence iceberg with five key layers: institutional measures, environmental factors, learning community factors, learning design factors, and educator factors. This research-informed model enables educators, institutions, and policymakers to move beyond measuring equivalence to systematically designing for it.