Development and analysis of a survey assessing eleventh grade high school students' preferences for specific types of online course structures

This dissertation describes an exploratory study to develop a survey that assesses high school students' attitudes towards various modes of online course delivery. The primary focus of the study was the development of a survey that could be used to determine these preferences with a target population of high school juniors. A panel of experts in the fields of online education and adolescent psychology examined the survey and provided feedback during its development. Reliability was established with a Cronbach's alpha. Validity was assessed through an exploratory factor analysis. Two factors emerged, focusing on interaction and student learning. The predicted online course structure rankings were validated with a Pearson product-moment correlation. The survey was found to be reliable and valid, and the course structure rankings were internally consistent. Survey results indicated a preference for hybrid courses with face-to-face instruction. Suggestions for further research are also included.