Effectiveness of Personal Interaction in a Learner-Centered Paradigm Distance Education Class Based on Student Satisfaction

摘要

This study examined relationships between students' perceptions of course-related interaction and their course satisfaction within the learner-centered paradigm in distance education. A Students' Perceived Interaction Survey (SPIS) instrument was developed to examine nine separate hypotheses about the nature of course-related interaction. A volunteer sample of 855 students from the 949 students enrolled in Computer Science 103-Computer literacy and Applications at Iowa State University in the fall of 2005 was used. This study employed a multiple linear regression. It concluded that student-instructor personal interaction, student-student personal interaction, and student-content interaction, along with students' perceptions of WebCT features and gender were predictors of course satisfaction. In this study 94% of the participants indicated they were satisfied with the course. No significance was found in the relationships between student satisfaction and student-teaching assistant (TA) personal interaction, the student's prior partial online distance education experience, the student's prior entirely online distance education experience, and academic year.