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Students in All Venues Were Generally Satisfied with the Common Core — The First Phase of the U.S. Army's System for Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Its Officer Corps

• Students were generally satisfied with most aspects of the course in all venues.
• However, students engaged in online instruction were less satisfied with opportunities for performance feedback and wanted more peer interaction.
• Students reported technical and administrative problems with some aspects of online instructional delivery.

Student Grades Were High Across All Venues; Grading Needs Improvement

• There were no meaningful differences in grades across venues.
• The average scores on assignments suggest that there was leniency in grading.
• The authors conducted an exploratory, quasi-experimental study to assess the consistency of grading among faculty on four assignments. Although the number of faculty who participated in the study was small, responses of those who did participate showed that reliability across these graders was generally quite low.

Future Evaluation Should Focus on Whether the Best Possible Outcomes Within Venues, Rather Than Equivalent Outcomes Across Venues, Are Achieved

• The authors found few meaningful differences in students' self-assessed learning and course grades among the three venues.
• These results should not be interpreted to mean that the venues are equally effective or that differences do not exist.
• Although the learning goals are the same, the venues are designed to support different student environments and needs.