Abstract:

My 2016 qualitative case study examining student and faculty perceptions about online course design and facilitation revealed that a lack of instructor presence was one of the barriers to the teaching and learning process. Some students felt isolated and disconnected from the instructors in their asynchronous courses, and one student even described her experience as having an “absentee professor.” Other students described online courses as self-paced or independent studies where they were navigating the learning management system and teaching themselves the content. This was because not all faculty established visibility by posting welcome or weekly course announcements that provided clear directions for students. Additionally some faculty responses to questions posed were untimely, inconsistent, and sometimes nonexistent. There was also limited feedback on some assignments and little evidence of interactions with the instructor in the learning management system.

The students in the study wanted faculty to provide constructive feedback on work submitted rather than just assigning a grade. They wanted to know how to improve assessments for which the faculty assigned low scores. The students also wanted instructors to interact with them in discussion forums by commenting as well as asking clarifying and probing questions to prompt critical thinking and deeper learning. While the 2016 case study featured a statistics course that was part of a business program at a college in northeastern United States, instructor presence and validation appear to be critical factors when examining online and hybrid courses on a wider scale.

A review of the literature shows that teaching, social, and cognitive presence are important elements of online course design and delivery. Yet, ten years following the 2016 study, students continue to express concerns about the level of faculty interaction and visibility within online and hybrid courses across different disciplines. Therefore, this paper/presentation seeks to provide a narrative review of relevant literature to highlight how teaching presence is reflected and the ensuing impact on student engagement in the virtual learning environment. Furthermore, an attempt will be made to specify best practices to reduce and possibly eliminate students' feelings of isolation or perceptions of “absentee professors” in online courses. The ultimate objective is to ensure that faculty and students are fully engaged in the teaching and learning process and evidence exists that reflects the community of inquiry framework (cognitive, social, and teaching presence) in the virtual learning environment and learning management system.

Keywords:

Teaching Presence, Community of Inquiry, Distance Education, Instructional Design, Student Engagement, Online Course Delivery, Virtual Learning Environments.