IMPROVING ONLINE PROGRAMS AND COMMUNITY OF INQUIRY THROUGH ANALYSIS OF DISCUSSION BOARDS, INSTRUCTOR SELF-EFFICACY, AND STUDENT SATISFACTION

This Professional Practice Doctorate three article dissertation utilized a group format that focused on issues surrounding technology and online learning in higher education in order to best advise the stakeholder of instructor, course and program level practices that can be used to enhance the overall quality of education in order to produce highly trained graduates ready for the 21st century workforce. The first article was an exploratory study that investigated the relationship between online instructor self-efficacy and student satisfaction at a private university in the northwestern United States. The second article was a quantitative analysis of discussion board best practices and the relationship of the use of discussion board best practices to student satisfaction and student perceived learning in a course. This involved the development and validation of the Discussion Board Best Practices Rubric. Using the rubric, discussion board best practices were correlated to the Community of Inquiry survey. The third article was a concept paper for the stakeholders highlighting the results of the studies with recommendations for the stakeholder. The last chapter provides a rich, blended perspective of online education that the stakeholders can use to understand and improve the quality of education. These studies suggest that course design for online courses could be improved by implementing best practices into the design of discussion boards. Instructors can also be trained on how to better use best practices to engage students in the discussion. Additional focus on teacher experience and how it affects their engagement in online courses is also warranted.Thesis (Ph.Ed., Leadership and Counseling) -- University of Idaho, December 201