Sage, guide, both, or even more? An examination of instructor activity in online MBA courses

This study examined faculty characteristics and behaviors in 46 MBA courses conducted over a two-year period. We found that both formal instructor activities, referred to in the online learning literature as teaching presence, and informal instructor activities, known as immediacy behaviors, were po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Computers and education 2010-11, Vol.55 (3), p.1234-1244
Main Author: Arbaugh, J.B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult learning
Business Administration Education
College Faculty
College Instruction
Correlation
Distributed learning environments
Education
Educational Strategies
Electronic Learning
Faculty Development
Foreign Countries
Graduate Students
Instructional Effectiveness
Instructors
Internet
Learning
MBA
Multilevel
On-line systems
Online
Online Courses
Pedagogical issues
Predictor Variables
Student Attitudes
Students
Teacher Behavior
Teacher Characteristics
Teacher Role
Teaching
Teaching/learning strategies
Virtual Classrooms
Web Based Instruction
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Summary:This study examined faculty characteristics and behaviors in 46 MBA courses conducted over a two-year period. We found that both formal instructor activities, referred to in the online learning literature as teaching presence, and informal instructor activities, known as immediacy behaviors, were positive predictors of student perceived learning and satisfaction with the educational delivery medium. We also found that instructor login intensity, the average amount of time spent per login session, was a negative predictor of perceived learning. Collectively, these findings suggest the need for instructors to structure and organize their courses beforehand so they can focus on efficient engagement with their students while the class is in session. Although teaching presence and instructor immediacy were significant predictors of delivery medium satisfaction, they explained only 6% of the variance. This finding should help instructors avoid taking unnecessary responsibility for students’ attitudes toward online learning. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for training of online instructors and the appropriate use of multilevel analytical tools in online learning and education research.
ISSN:0360-1315
1873-782X
DOI:10.1016/j.compedu.2010.05.020