An Empirical Investigation of the Impacts of Web-Based Distance Education: Evidence for Justice Studies

During the past decade, web-based distance education has created a profound impact on education and learning. It has increased access and expanded educational opportunities of many students. The National Center for Educational Statistics reported that over 50% of post-secondary institutions now offer a number of web-based courses. Peterson’s Guide to Distance Learning programs reported that over 75 programs in criminal justice or criminology. Although increasing number of courses are being offered through the web-based distance modality, it is however important to determine the perceptions of students to its use. The study therefore attempted to determine the perceptions on web-based distance education by students in the justice studies department at a Historically Black University. The Chi Square and correlational analysis revealed that age-group, gender, year in school and study time were statistically significant. A binomial regression with student’s major as the outcome was most robust with an R-Square of 0.522. Gender, study time and year in university were statistically significant at the .05 level and having done a web-based distance course. There was therefore a statistically significant variation in the perceptions of the students in justice studies towards web-based distance education.