Promoting Student Support and Satisfaction in Online Learning by
Benke, Empire State Colleg;, Bishop, UMUC; Thompson, Penn State; Scarafiotti, Rio Salado College; Claudine SchWeber, UMUC.

five pillars of quality online learning brought forth by Sloan-C are: learning effectiveness, cost effectiveness, access, faculty satisfaction, and student satisfaction, all of which interrelate and work together.

again the notion that learning effectiveness is antithetical to student satisfaction is brought up, but that also students who experience positive learning experiences also reported high levels of satisfaction.

Enhancing Student Satisfaction through Faculty Development: The Importance of ?Teaching Presence?
by Shea, Pickett, and Pelz, SUNY Learning Network

this was a great article which talked about the importance of teaching presence in relationship to student satisfaction. Shea et al. referred to Anderson, T., Rourke, L., Garrison, D. R. and Archer W. Assessing Teaching Presence in a Computer Conferencing Context. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks 5(2): September
2001, about the different aspects of teaching presence:

1. Instructional design and organization (refer to Chickering, A. W. and Gamson, A. F. Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate
Education. Racine, WI: The Johnson Foundation, Inc./Wingspread, 1987.)

setting curriculum
designing methods
establishing time parameters
utilizing the medium effectively
establishing netiquette

2. Facilitating Discourse
identifying areas of agreement and disagreement
seeking to reach consensus and understanding
encouraging, acknowledging, and reinforcing student contributions
setting the climate for learning
drawing in participants and prompting discussion
assessing the efficacy of the process

when assessing this aspect of teaching presence, impt to assess the degree to which other participants in the course contributed to the same aspects as the instructor. this reinforces the notion of active learners and the idea that fellow students can, and should have, a teaching presence also.

3. Direct instruction- same Anderson et al article as above. also important to assess participant contributions to the aspects as well as the instructor.
presenting content and questions
focusing the discussion on specific issues
summarizing discussion
confirming understanding
diagnosing misperceptions
injecting knowledge from diverse sources
responding to technical concern

Very strong correlation between strong instructional design and organization and high levels of satisfaction and learning.

also high correlation between facilitating discourse and direct instruction and high leves of satisfaction and learning, but not as high as for instructional design. it was also note-worty that even though students rated fellow students high in these aspects, their impact on learning and satisfaction was far less than when compared to the instructor. Instructor is expected to play more essential a role.

Refer to the following for more info:

Shea, P., Fredericksen, E., Pickett, A. and Pelz, W. A Preliminary Investigation of Teaching Presence in the SUNY Learning Network. In Elements of Quality Online Education: Practice and Direction, Vol 4. Needham, MA: Sloan-C, 2003.

Bransford, J., Brown, A., Cocking, R., Donovan, M. and Pellegrino, J. W. How People Learn, National Academy Press, 2000.

Sloan workshop

Critical Factors in Student Satisfaction and Success: Facilitating Student Role Adjustment in Online Communities of Inquiry by
D. Randy Garrison University of Calgary, Martha Cleveland-Innes
Athabasca University

A. Student Satisfaction and Success
need to make a shift to a different role of taking responsibility for learning, so must feel welcome and understand expectations, and feel a sense of belonging to a group.

3 presences necessary;
social, cognitive, and teaching

high degree of course interaction improved satisfaction, but poor support hinder satisfaction.

BUT "to some extent there is a fundamental contradiction between
maximizing student satisfaction and providing the best possible learning experience. (p. 7, Sener and Humbert)" as quoted in Garrison and Cleveland-Innes.

students don't always know what is best for them educationally.

B. Communities of inquiry
collaboration and independence characteristic online learning and allow for discussion and reflection. satisfaction and success need all of these.

Learning communities need: social, cognitive, and teaching presence to be integrated so that critical thinking and reflection occurs.

sense of community thought to allow learners to challenge each other. hope that learners end up feeling empowered.

C. Role Adjustment
been reported that the highest level of student satisfaction is related to quality of interaction with the instructor. instructor needs to help the learner learn new skills necessary to participate fully in community. learner must know expectations.

students hopefully go throught stages of role taking (observation and practice), role making (start making decisions on own based on owning the responsibility to seek out meaning and understanding.

combo of f2f and online (blended learning) increase difficult in role adjustment. blended learning also require interaction in orde rto be successful

III Role Adjustment Study
grad classes at Athabasca. fully online with combo of print and electronic resources plus online conferencing.
results of a survey to these students revealed that first time students had the most difficulty with interaction: posting messages that were not misinterpreted and realizing that interacting with fellow students means that they interact witih the instructor less.

students alsos concerned initially about feeling part of community and having to use async discussion as a means to get to know fellow students.

this is a great quote from a grad student, and so true....?Personal information is not a factor in a face-to-face environment and is only offered once you feel comfortable [with] your class members.
On-line learning reverses the process.?

also had difficulty with instructor shifting into facilitator role rather than didatic model.

V Implications for Practice
teachers need to initially model and facilitate interaction and purposeful conversation, as students don't know how to do it. need much teacher presence as start of course.

instructors need to guide students in all three aspects of presence:
cognitive, social, as well as provide teaching presence.

Community is established through authentic and worthwhile activities, clear role assignments, stimulating questioning, focused and inclusive interaction, timely responses to requests, and group projects.

students also need to assume teaching presence.

facilitator must keep table on the overall functioning of the group. be in tune with the culture of the group, helping to shape and direct when necessary.

VI Conclusions
interaction, or the level to which students are engaging and active in the course, is what is neccesary for higher ordered thinking. critical to think about how critical thinking can be improved online.