Instructor-Generated Interactions and Course Outcomes in Online History Courses
Author:
Kristen Kelton, Ph.D.
Tarrant County College Connect Campus
kristen.kelton@tccd.edu
Abstract
This article highlights a 2021 quantitative, correlational study examining the relationship between the weekly number of instructor-generated posts and two course outcomes within fully online, asynchronous history classes managed by one large, urban Texas community college serving a 35% Hispanic/ Latino student population. Framed by Communities of Inquiry (CoI), the study utilized archival data spanning four academic terms to answer two research questions: 1) to what degree, if any, is there a relationship between the weekly number of instructor-generated discussion posts and pass percentage rates in online history classes? and 2) to what degree, if any, is there a relationship between the weekly number of instructor-generated discussion posts and withdrawal percentage rates in online history classes? The sample contained 106 sections of History 1301 delivered via Blackboard LMS. Two data sources were collected; one showed total number of posts in the given sections, allowing calculation of a weekly mean value. The other showed course pass and withdrawal percentage rates for the sections. A positive, weak correlation was found between number of posts and pass percentage rates (r (104) = .32, p < .001). A negative, weak correlation was found between number of posts and withdrawal percentage rates (r (104) = -.47, p = .001). This article discusses the findings and provides supplemental insights for Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs).
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