The effect of social presence in virtual high school
Abstract
The overall purpose of this study was to see whether social presence in online learning is related to student satisfaction at the high school level and to investigate whether certain activities can be effective in increasing students' social presence and satisfaction and thus retention rates. The study was divided into two parts: the purpose of the first part of the research was to extend findings by Gunawardena and Zittle (1997) into the high school setting, and the second part compared several activities to investigate which of them were the most effective in enhancing social presence. A survey examining social presence and satisfaction and discussion board coding were the instruments used for Part 1. Part 2 utilized data from the same social presence and satisfaction survey, along with an additional survey examining perceived social presence per activity, an instructor survey, course activity/contact log data, and student retention/drop-out data. Three schools participated in the study, with a total of 40 instructors, 18 courses, and 277 students represented in Part 1; 727 discussion board postings by 105 students are analyzed in Part 2. Pearson's correlation, linear regression, and binary logistic regression were performed for data analysis. Schools were analyzed separately for the Part 2 analysis, as one school provided student-specific contact log data and the other two provided course-specific activity data. The results show that certain activities, namely personalized introductions, sending of official documents, notes, and course announcements, are strong predictors of high social presence. Students who had high social presence in personalized introductions and real-time web conferencing activities also had high social presence in the course overall. None of the specific activities tested was distinguished as a predictor of satisfaction. However, perceived social presence in certain activities, namely the personalized introduction, orientation activity, and use of web 2.0 tools, was a predictor of satisfaction. High social presence on team projects predicted low satisfaction. Sending frequent notes was shown to be a strong predictor of retention. Lastly, the results showed that high social presence in discussion board activities predicted a high retention rate. This research is intended to inform the design of online high school courses. The results provide data on what activities impact social presence, satisfaction, and retention, and the discussion in the conclusion will provide some reflections on how to effectively implement courses with integrated social presence.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Strobel, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Instructional Design|Educational technology
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