abstract: This mixed methods study examined instructor introduction videos for use in online learning. This study intended to identify the influence of video production value on student perceptions of student-instructor intent, specifically in the areas of perceived student-instructor communication and student-instructor connection. This study also examined which production style most accurately aligns student perceptions with instructor intent as well as which video production style is preferred by students. Using a set of production guidelines, an instructor produced two introduction videos; one of low production value, one of high production value. Student participants were surveyed on their perceptions of the instructor as featured in both videos. The instructor was interviewed using similar questions in order to identify instructor intent and compare instructor intent to student perceptions. Analysis of data showed that there was no statistical difference between video production value in students’ perceived student-instructor connection or student-instructor communication when compared to the instructor’s intent in the same areas. Data analysis also showed that a high production value was more accurate in portraying instructor intent, however a low production value was preferred by students and portrayed the instructor more positively. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2019

abstract: The purpose of the project was to explore the extent to which an asynchronous online professional development (PD) model focusing on instructor presence would improve feedback and interactions with students. The study is grounded in Community of Inquiry theory, which situates learning at the intersection of teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence. The study aimed to improve student success by empowering instructors to integrate engaging strategies and technology tools into fully online courses. The participants were 4 higher education instructors teaching in fully online degree programs delivered to 160-200 undergraduate students. For eight weeks the 4 instructors participated in the PD. The goals of the PD were to learn strategies for improving instructor presence and integrating student engagement opportunities in a collaborative online format. Data was collected from pre- and post-intervention offerings of the instructors’ courses to determine the impact of participation in the PD. Results suggest that the PD model was an effective intervention to increase presence and engagement. Presence and engagement were found to have increased in participants’ courses. Interactive video was found to serve multiple purposes including increasing instructor presence and student engagement, facilitating feedback between instructors and students, and elevating the level of cognitive presence of students. As a result, instructors and students both indicated a perception of improved interactions and feedback. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2020

The purpose of this non-experimental, comparative, quantitative study was to determine if there were significant differences between the perceptions of male and female community college students about the importance of sense of community (SoC) in online classes and sense of instructor presence (IP) at eight southern, public, community colleges using survey data. It was the intent of the study to determine if there were significant relationships of students’ perceptions of the presence of sense of community in online classes among factors of age, race, grade point average, cumulative credit hours, credential type, major area of study, and number of previous online courses completed. In addition, possible significant relationships of students’ perceptions of instructor presence in online classes among factors of age, race, grade point average, cumulative credit hours, credential type, major area of study, and number of previous online courses completed were analyzed. The findings provided evidence that for these community college students, demographic characteristics generally did not impact SoC nor student perception of IP. However, students’ open-ended feedback revealed multiple layers of frustration with lack of IP.

This study identifies and assesses a more specific relationship between the online instructor presence and the online learner's experience than is currently offered in previous studies. Guided by three questions, the study asked: (a) What is the relationship between the online instructor communication style and the learning experience, as defined by the adult learner's cognitive achievement, ratings of the overall course experience, and perceptions of the instructor's performance; (b) What is the relationship between the strength (contact frequency with the learner) of that communication style (facilitating or non-facilitating) and the learning experience; and (c) What is the relationship between selected learner demographic variables (previous subject experience on the job and previous experience with the vendor's online learning environment) and the learning experience. The study included an examination of ex post facto data that depicted the interactions between 89 students and 9 instructors in 358 asynchronous, professional development class discussions. The examination revealed the presence and frequency of select instructor behaviors more acutely define the communication style and strength of the online instructor's relationship to the professional adult's online learning experience. The study's additional findings support earlier research that suggests prior learner experience relates positively to online learning outcomes. These findings contribute to the larger body of knowledge related to online instruction. / Ph. D.

Bivariate correlation was used to examine possible relationships between instructor immediacy and instructor presence, and a statistically significant correlation was found. Multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine whether the linear combination of instructor immediacy and presence caused significant variance in student affective learning, cognition, and motivation. For all three of the latter dependent variables, the linear combination of instructor immediacy and presence was found to cause statistically significant variance. However, although the overall regression models were significant in all three tests, instructor immediacy was not found to be a significant individual predictor for causing variance in affective learning, cognition, or motivation, whereas instructor presence was found to be a significant individual predictor of all three. Finally, factorial ANOVA revealed that, for perceptions of instructor immediacy, only classification and course type were found to explain significant variance, with undergraduate students in asynchronous courses reporting significantly lower instructor immediacy. For perceptions of instructor presence, graduate students tended to rate their instructors as having higher presence than did undergraduate students, and students in synchronous courses tended to rate their instructors as having higher presence than did students in asynchronous courses.