Does Course Delivery Method Impact Performance in Subsequent Courses? Evidence from a Financial Management Course

This study seeks to examine whether the mode of presentation for a foundational course affects student academic performance in a higher level course. In other words, do students retain more knowledge when a course is presented in the traditional lecture format or via online delivery? The course investigated was financial management, which serves as a prerequisite for several other courses in a business curriculum. Students from a medium sized state university (student population 6, 500) with an AACSB accredited College of Business self-selected the online or lecture format. The presentation of the prerequisite did not have an impact on a student’s grade in a capstone business course. However, it was found that students in the web version of financial management performed better (i.e., earned higher grades) in upper level finance courses than those students enrolled in the lecture version of the prerequisite