Assessing the Relationship between Learner Satisfaction and Faculty Participation in Online Course Discussions

Abstract

Faculty-student interaction in online courses heightens student satisfaction and success. Capella University studied the relationship between learner satisfaction with faculty (as reported in end-of-course evaluations) and faculty participation in online courses (as measured by monitoring faculty interaction). Learners appear to be more responsive in courses led by instructors who seem committed to learner success and dedicated to improving learner engagement with the subject matter and other learners. Some instructor behaviors, including certain messages and eedback on assignments, improved overall learner satisfaction. However, these faculty behaviors did not improve other learner perceptions, such as increased professional value. Instructor-learner interaction with respect to projects and course content may be more important to learner satisfaction and realization of professional value than other kinds of faculty-student interaction.