{"id":10523,"date":"2024-01-18T11:39:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T16:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/design-center\/?page_id=10523"},"modified":"2024-01-18T11:39:31","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T16:39:31","slug":"regular-and-substantive-interaction","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.marshall.edu\/design-center\/regular-and-substantive-interaction\/","title":{"rendered":"Regular and Substantive Interaction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)<\/span><\/h2>\n

To have a good learning experience in online courses, students need lots of opportunities for interaction\u2014with their peers, with the content, and with their instructor. While it is important to include a variety of interactive activities, not all of these count as \u201cRegular and Substantive Interaction\u201d (RSI) as defined by the U.S. Department of Education.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The <\/span><\/b>Regulations<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

The Code of Federal\u00a0<\/span>Regulations defining distance education, updated in July 2021, reflects the required federal benchmark of <\/span>instructor-student <\/span><\/i>interaction that separates a correspondence course from a distance course (<\/span>34 CFR 600.2 \u201cDistance education\u201d<\/span><\/a>). This is a crucial difference since this determination has implications for federal financial aid to the institution, meaning that federal audits to review institutional adherence to RSI can have institutional consequences (Pi\u00f1a and Martindale, 2023).\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beyond the <\/span><\/b>Regulations<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

While it is important to note this benchmark, online faculty know that developing opportunities for instructor-student interactions can have significant benefits for their students, since \u201cinstructor-student relationships are the connective tissue between students, engagement, and rigor\u201d (Pecansky-Brock et al., 2020). We show you how to meet and exceed RSI standards, a tool to reflect on RSI in your classes, and how instructional designers can support you in RSI design.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Meet<\/span>ing<\/span> RSI Standards<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

The Department of Education defines <\/span>substantive interaction<\/span><\/b> as \u201cengaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment, consistent with the content under discussion, and also includes at least two of the following\u201d:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

(i) Providing direct instruction; <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(ii) Assessing or providing feedback on a stude<\/span><\/i>nt’s coursework; <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(iii) Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or <\/span><\/i> competency; <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(iv) Facilitating a group discussion regard<\/span><\/i>ing the content of a course or competency; or <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(v) Other instructional activities approved by the institution’s or program’s accrediting agency.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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RSI Goes Beyond Good Practice<\/h2>\n

While some activities are good practice, they may not <\/span>fall under RSI:<\/span>\"\"<\/p>\n

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Exceeding RSI Standards<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

RSI aligns with common best practices for both design and delivery in online learning, such as building <\/span>instructor presence<\/span><\/a>, communicating the instructor\u2019s \u201cplan for regular and substantive interaction,\u201d and adaptive teaching – using data to identify high-opportunity students (QM; Pecansky-Brock et al., 2020). In addition, regular instructor-student interaction supports Marshall\u2019s strategic plan for student experience and success because of its impact on belongingness (<\/span>Strategic Plan;<\/span><\/a> Belongingness<\/a>)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Take RSI from standard to the next level:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Department of Education defines <\/span>regular interaction<\/span><\/b> as:\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

(i) Providing the opportunity for substantive interactions with the student on a predictable and <\/span><\/i> scheduled basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course <\/span><\/i> or competency; and <\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

(ii) Monitoring the student’s academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor <\/span><\/i> is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student <\/span><\/i> when needed on the basis of such monitoring, or upon request by the student.<\/span><\/i> (<\/span>34 CFR 600.2 <\/span><\/a> \u201cDistance education\u201d<\/span><\/a>)<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n