The World Wide Web provides a powerful new resource for education in agriculture and the life sciences

This study was conducted to determine student interest in taking a course through the Internet, rather than meeting in a traditional face-to-face classroom. Further, it sought to identify student characteristics that influence interest in taking a course through the Internet and to identify instructional design considerations based on importance placed on various features by students. The need for this study arises from the demand for particular courses, specifically AGED 340 "Professional Leadership Development", surpassing the capacity within the department. The need to utilize alternative methods of delivering leadership education to meet demand is accompanied by the responsibility to assess student interest in these methods and consideration of preferred instructional design strategies. The research design used was a descriptive survey method. More than 80% of the students indicated that they would be interested in taking one or more courses through the Internet. No significant relationships were discovered between any of the students’ personal characteristics examined and interest in taking Internet-based courses. Scheduled meetings, audio, and graphics were indicated by students to be important components of an online course. This study provides baseline information that can assist in the development of an online leadership course to meet current needs. Introduction and Theoretical Framework Leadership skills are essential for everyone, both as members and leaders of groups (Gatchell, et. al. 1989). Green (1992) observed that while many people learn leadership as they go, in an unplanned and serendipitous way, it is also possible not to learn from experience or by observing others. She concludes, “The central question, then, for developing effective leadership is how can these efforts be made deliberate and purposeful rather than accidental or serendipitous” (p. 59). It is widely agreed by leadership scholars that leadership can be taught (Bennis, 1989; Bass & Avolio, 1994; Kouzes & Posner, 1987). In its guidebook for leadership development, the Higher Education Research Institute states, “Higher education has a vital role to play in educating each new generation of leaders. Effective leadership is an especially acute issue in modern American society given its increasing complexity and fluidity and its myriad social, economic, political and educational problems” (1995, p.2). As a result, many universities have developed courses that teach leadership theory and practice. Agricultural Education 340, “Professional Leadership Development,” is an upperlevel leadership course taught at Texas A&M University. This course consists of two one-hour lectures and a one-hour small group laboratory per week. Leadership concepts are introduced during the lecture period and laboratories provide the opportunity to apply the concepts. Agricultural Education 340 is a required course for the approximately 800 students in the Department of Agricultural Education and Agribusiness Majors in the Department of Agricultural Economics. The course is also listed as a Social Sciences elective in Texas A&M’s core curriculum. As a result, 40% of the students enrolled in Agricultural Education 340 each semester are not required to take the course, but take the course as an elective. Approximately 650 students complete the course annually. Currently, the demand for the course surpasses the capacity within the Department of Agricultural Education. There exists a need for alternative methods of delivering leadership education to meet this demand. Boyd & Murphey Interest in Online Leadership. Journal of Agricultural Education 30 Volume 42, Issue 1, 2001 "The World Wide Web provides a powerful new resource for education in agriculture and the life sciences" (O’Kane & Armstrong, 1997, p. 10). This new resource, the Internet, is providing opportunities to reach more students in innovative and creative ways. Instruction delivered via a computer has been shown to be effective in engineering, microbiology, anatomy, and medical education programs (Fasce, Ramirez, & Ibanez, 1995; Inglis, Fu, & Kwokchan, 1995; Jones & Kane, 1994; Tothcohen, 1995). This delivery method has been developed to permit individuals to learn facts and analyze decisions in areas such as farm safety, landscape design, and construction. In addition, in a book entitled The No Significant Difference Phenomenon, Russell (1999) presented 355 studies showing that there is no significant difference between achievement of students who received instruction in a traditional classroom and those who received instruction through other means. Thus, it can be theorized that instruction delivered via a computer can be effectively used to deliver other topics. A June 1998 survey found that computing and information technology are "core components of the campus environment and classroom experience" (Green, 1998). As noted by Willis in "Effective Practice: The View from Across the Nation" (1998), teachers need to serve as facilitators instead of instructors in order to be successful in delivering instruction online. While other studies have asked the question, “should we deliver instruction using the Internet,” they have failed to determine the level of interest held by students in regard to taking a course using these means and, more importantly, to determine factors that can affect the quality of the instruction delivered. Thus, the need for the study reported here. Purpose and Objectives The purpose of this study was to identify student interest in participating in an upperlevel undergraduate course, AGED 340, “Professional Leadership Development,” and other college courses through the Internet and to identify factors to consider when designing instruction for Internetbased courses. The specific objectives of the study were as follows: 1. To determine the interest of students in taking a course through the Internet, rather than meeting in a traditional face-to-face classroom. 2. To identify student characteristics that influence interest in taking a course through the Internet. 3. To identify instructional design considerations based on importance placed on various features by students. Methods and Procedures Research Design The research design used for the study was a descriptive survey method. Population and Sample The population for the study consisted of 240 students enrolled in Agricultural Education (AGED) 340, "Professional Leadership Development," during the Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 semesters at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. The sample included the 166 students who self-selected to complete the survey that was made available on the Internet. Instrumentation The researchers developed the survey instrument in consultation with test development experts. Faculty within the Department of Agricultural Education at Texas A&M University reviewed the instrument for face and content validity. Approximately 50 students reviewed the instrument for readability and understanding. The instrument contained seven questions to identify personal characteristics, three questions to identify interest in non-traditional courses, five questions related to computer experience, fourteen questions related to instructional design preference, and thirty-five Likerttype questions related to instructional design and online learning. The response choices for the Likert scales were: 1 = “Strongly Disagree,” 2 = “Disagree,” 3 = “Unsure/No Opinion,” 4 = “Agree,” and 5 = “Strongly Agree. ” The survey concluded with two Boyd & Murphey Interest in Online Leadership. Journal of Agricultural Education 31 Volume 42, Issue 1, 2001 open-ended questions related to students’ perceptions concerning the benefits and drawbacks of Internet-based courses. Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha was used to quantify internal consistency of the Likert-type portion of the instrument. One Likert-type question was eliminated from the study due to error in development. The remaining 34 Likert-type questions yielded a coefficient alpha of . 7780. Fourteen of the 34 Likert-type questions were combined into five measurement scales. Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha for the five measurement scales ranged from . 6899 to . 8126. The five individual measurement scales are provided in Table 1. Nunnally (1967) suggested that in the early stages of research a modest reliability of . 60 or . 50 will suffice. Thus, no additional questions were eliminated from the study. Table 1 Likert scale categories and descriptive statistics, student interest in taking a course via the Internet, Texas A&M University, Fall 1999 and Spring 2000 (n=166). Categories Mean SD Alpha # of Questions Frequency of E-mail and Internet Use 4.45 . 723 . 6899 2 Importance of Instructor Interaction 2.28 . 873 . 7791 2 Importance of Classmate Interaction 3.47 . 844 . 7287 3 Interest in Taking Courses Via the Internet 3.77 . 909 . 8126 3 Self-perceptions of Time Management 3.07 . 783 . 7775 4 Note: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Unsure/No Opinion, 4 = Agree, and 5 = Strongly Agree Data Collection and Analysis The instrument was placed on the Internet and students entered their responses directly into the online survey. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) computer program was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics consisting of means, standard deviations, and percentages were used to describe the sample. Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha was used to determine the reliability of the instrument as well as the five measurement scales. Pearson’s Product Moment Correlations were computed to examine relationships among variables and one-way ANOVAs were used to examine differences between means.