The Effect of a Computerized Teaching Assistant on Student Interaction, Student Satisfaction, and Retention Rates of Students in a Distance Course.
Cheryl Reindl-Johnson, Sinclair Community College
As distance education programs proliferate and enrollments soar, faculty teaching distance courses are being pressured to increase communication and find ways to improve interaction with distance students. Instructors are feeling an increased burden as they deal with student expectation of “24/7” availability and response. In fact, the increased use of course Web sites, e-mail, and discussion forums have significantly increased faculty workloads in face-to-face classes as well as distance classes.
While attending the ASCUE conference in 2000, I attended a session presented by Steve and J.D. Knode on Intelligent Agents. Intelligent Agents could be utilized as teaching assistants—programmed to answer questions, provide navigation assistance, generate e-mail responses, and even instruct and sympathize.
The idea intrigued me and led me to investigate the effect of a computerized teaching assistant (CTA) on student interaction, student satisfaction, and retention rates of students in a distance course. Of particular interest was the question of whether this technology could significantly increase student interaction, without increasing the instructor’s workload.
During this session I will share the results (student satisfaction surveys, student success rates, and retention comparisons) of the study that used a CTA in one section of a distance learning course. I will also demonstrate the CTA and explain the creation process using affordable, commercially available software.
