From the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE):
Effective learning strategies were more frequently used by students who were older, enrolled part-time, or taking all their coursework online, and were associated with higher self-reported college grades.
Students taking all of their courses online were significantly less engaged in collaborative learning.
Key Individual Questions Related to Academic Challenge
Interestingly, three quarters of students taking all of their courses online experienced high levels of challenge, compared with 55% to 59% of those who had no online courses (Table 3). Online students spent slightly more time studying and reading, and they were assigned more writing on average. (p.9)
Learning Strategies
Females report significantly greater use of learning strategies than males. Learning strategies were also used more frequently by nontraditional college students. Students who were older or taking all their coursework online used study strategies more often than their counterparts. Additionally, first-generation students, transfer students, and students not living on campus used learning strategies more often than their counterparts (p.12).
Supportive Environment
Online institutions may find encouraging results in NSSE 2013; both first-year students and seniors who were taking all of their courses online rated the quality of their interactions higher than those of their campus-based counterparts (p.18).
See also: “High Impact Practices”