Paper-Based Versus Online Administration
of Student Scales

Online administration of student rating forms has been considered and often rejected by institutions of higher education because of faculty’s preconceived notions of decreased response rates, increased rating bias, and lower ratings than paper-based administration. Research and practice over the past five years have addressed these concerns and other deterrents to adoption of online administration.

This workshop critically compares the two modalities according to 15 key factors. Special attention is devoted to online issues, such as response rates, administration time, standardization, accessibility, convenience, turnaround time, anonymity/confidentiality, and cost. The comparability of paper-based and online ratings is also examined in terms of the threats of response and nonresponse biases and the structured and unstructured item formats.

Participants are able to assess the feasibility of addressing these issues at their institution. A variety of available software, such as WebCT, TestPilot, and Snap, are also reviewed. After weighing all of the pluses and minuses, conclusions will be discussed regarding your institution’s conversion to an online system to administer student ratings.

This topic is available as a 1-hour workshop.

To find out more, email Ed Leach or call (480) 705-8200, x233.