The Relationship between Teaching Presence and Student Satisfaction in Graduate Distance Education Courses

As enrollment in online education continues to grow, components of instructional effectiveness must be examined in order to determine elements that impact student satisfaction. One such element, teaching presence, has been linked to student satisfaction in distance education courses. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the strength of the relationship between teaching presence and its sub-components and student satisfaction in online graduate education courses. This study used student perceptions of faculty teaching presence in an online graduate program to measure the three teaching presence components of the Community of Inquiry model including: instructional design and organization, facilitated discourse, and direct instruction. This research was conducted at a regional, four-year institution of higher education in Texas that offers undergraduate and graduate-level programs in face-to-face, hybrid, and online learning environments. The participants of this study included all graduate students enrolled in online courses offered by the College of Education for master’s level programs and certificates at the research site. The participants completed an online quantitative survey including demographic questions and modified versions of the Community of Inquiry Survey and the Student Satisfaction Survey. Data collected was analyzed by a Person’s r correlational analysis to determine the strength of the relationships of teaching presence to student satisfaction in distance education courses in order to answer the research questions. The study findings indicated a strong, positive correlation between all sub-components of teaching presence and teaching presence to student satisfaction in graduate distance education courses.

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