*Student Attitudes; Student Educational Objectives; Student Evaluation

Abstract

In an effort to determine whether advanced placement and concurrently enrolled high school students learn as well as college students in distance education courses, Utah Valley State College (UVSC) administered an open-ended survey in the spring of 1998 to all students learning off-campus, via the computer or television, soliciting information on the interactive learning experience, demographics, and the level of satisfaction with the course and teacher. After the survey was administered, fourteen interactive teachers were surveyed on similar issues. Findings indicate that: (1) high school students had more complaints about interactive learning, yet were more complimentary of teachers than were the college students; (2) high school students value interactive classes more than college students, yet do not perform as well; (3) high school students reported feeling isolated and found the interactive courses to be difficult; (4) teacher feedback was similar to student feedback regarding the necessity of basic student skills