IDENTIFYING STUDENT ATTITUDES AND LEARNING STYLES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

As universities and businesses move toward the use of online education and training, there is need to discover how to make this alternative both more attractive and viable for different populations. Our research efforts examined the cluster of opinions held by students, with respect to technology and its application to education, across two populations: traditional college undergraduate students and adult learners (nontraditional graduate students). None of the students had any experience with online coursework. Q-methodology was used to identify opinions, shared among students, on issues they considered important about the application of technology to course instruction. This research suggests approaches on how an educational program might fine tune its online delivery for maximum suitability and acceptability to the broadest group of learners in post-secondary education.