Online learning in landscape architecture: Assessing issues, preferences, and student needs in design-related online education

Technological shifts in instructional delivery have increased the number of online courses and programs available in higher education. In the design fields, many traditional lecture-based courses have been converted to online formats in an effort to bolster student enrollment numbers, increase weighted student credit hours, and help with recruitment. A panel discussion on the topic at the 2018 annual meeting of the Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) identified four issues expected to affect the likelihood of success, including access, interactivity, online preferences, and concerns over academic integrity. Using these factors as an analytical framework, this article examines the current assets and capacities for online-learning delivery in a university-level lecture course related to the history of landscape architecture. Using three years of course evaluation data, students entering a high-enrollment online History of Landscape Architecture course are compared with similar survey data gathered after more students completed the course. Findings suggest that although online learning can increase the flexibility of course scheduling, boost the self-motivation of students, and remove geographic barriers for instructional delivery, technical challenges and the limited amount of student– teacher and student–student interaction may limit its capabilities in landscape architecture.