Comparing the Self-Efficacy of Dual Enrollment Students Taking Classes at the High School, at the College, and Online

This quantitative causal comparative study investigated how the modality of course content delivery impacts the self-efficacy of dual enrollment students. The problem was that it is unclear how the benefits of dual enrollment impact different student groups based on the location of the course. The purpose was to verify existing research linking higher college self-efficacy with participation in dual enrollment programs and to provide an initial understanding of how the benefit of higher levels of self-efficacy regarding college performance is distributed between students who take their dual enrollment courses in various modalities. Using the College Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (CASES), data was collected from a sample of 178 dual enrollment students across the state of Washington and a one-way ANOVA with four groups at the alpha < 0.05 level found the only significant difference between the groups was students taking classes at the high school reported higher levels of self-efficacy than students at the college. In addition, 235 traditional college students were surveyed to compare with the 178 dual enrollment students to determine how self-efficacy scores differed between the two groups. A t-test with independent groups at the alpha < 0.05 level found no significant difference, contradicting the majority of the research in the literature. Further discussion concluded that higher self-efficacy scores for students taking dual enrollment at the high school, rather than the college, may be a result of how self-efficacy is formed. Implications of the research for stakeholders along with study limitations and recommendations for future research are addressed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]