On-line courses can be successfully completed in half the time, especially if student participation is organised right.

Panos Vlachopoulos, Shazia Khan (both Macquarie U) and Lori Locyker (UTS) examined student performance and outcomes in an on-line course when offered over 13 and six weeks. They found no difference in academic performance between the long and short durations, but they did identify a positive relationship between student participation and academic performance in the intensive mode when students, rather than tutors drive the discussion.

This is good news for academics interested in ways to maximise student benefits in compressed courses, without compromising on content and quality – and their deans.