Student Attitude and Online Learning

Abstract

After defining “attitude” and reporting on the impact attitudes have in general, this chapter presents different instruments which have been used to measure students' attitude toward online education, and reports on studies which have used these instruments to assess attitudes toward online education. In addition, design factors affecting attitudes toward distance education were studied. The chapter presents research associated with different models which were used to study the impact of impact of design factors upon attitude, focusing upon learning environment research. More broadly, research associated with process and causal models was presented. These models examine a multitude of factors associated with student attitudes. The chapter concludes by discussing the importance of factoring in attitude when designing distance education courses.