Modes of online course delivery are developing and changing rapidly. Lately, an increasing number of online courses are being offered in a self-paced (or a self-paced-approaching) format, which usually means that the course is offered for a longer time and that there is only one due date at the end of the course. This mode of delivery can seem attractive from different perspectives, such as student, teacher, or business perspective. However, despite the growing presence of self-paced courses, little research has been conducted so far into the effectiveness of this delivery mode on student experience and learning. This study explores the effects of the self-paced delivery mode, and its possible interactions with student characteristics on performance. Preliminary findings indicate that success factors of students are similar in self-paced and instructor-paced courses, and that the self-paced format has little effect on students performance. Further research is needed to provide additional insight into advantages and disadvantages of different delivery modes.
