Faculty research is published re: student satisfaction with online learning

A paper by Dr. Heather Hatchett (Professor of Psychology and Department Chair, Social and Behavioral Sciences) has been published in the online journal Discover Education, an open access journal that publishes research “from a broad range of education fields with the potential to impact social and academic development.”

Dr. Hatchett’s paper, “Creation of the Remote Learning Best Practices (RLBP) Satisfaction Survey,” describes the tool she developed to measure student satisfaction with asynchronous online courses and courses with a synchronous virtual component, such as lectures via Zoom or Microsoft Teams.

The RLBP survey facilitates quick, efficient review of student satisfaction with online courses, based on both the design of the course and the way it is taught.

Hatchett said the new tool assesses aspects of teaching and course design and correlates with a summative measure of course quality–the Quality Matters (QM) Higher Education Rubric.

Dr. Hatchett’s research began in 2020, when all student learning switched to remote format during the pandemic. She reported on earlier versions of her survey and its connections to student retention and success in online courses at a 2023 meeting of The Assessment Institute, the oldest and largest higher education event in the United States focused on assessment and improvement.

“I was dissatisfied with the existing satisfaction measures,” Heather said. “The creation of the RLBP uses a unique methodology that includes direct student input–something that has not been a primary consideration in other course satisfaction surveys.”