AAACE 2021 Annual Conference

online; graduate students; institutional support

Online graduate students’ perceived level of institutional support was explored in relation to student satisfaction and importance. Study findings revealed that the participants considered instructional services and academic services the most important areas of institutional support. Gap analysis indicated areas in which increased student support could benefit online graduate learners.

This session will provide an important contribution to the current literature in adult and online education. Through the use of confirmatory factor analysis and Bayesian path analysis, the online learning study provided strong and effective results that could be replicated. Furthermore, the study presented real-world applications and provided actionable results.
The online learning study revealed the association between perceived level of institutional support and the reported student satisfaction levels of online graduate students. The study also established the relationship between perceived institutional support and student importance levels. Furthermore, findings demonstrated the impact age group had on such levels. While satisfaction levels demonstrated how well the institution was meeting online graduate learning needs, importance levels provided insight into the value placed on study factors. In effect, the gap between importance levels and satisfaction levels will allow the university to see where improvement may need to be made, from the perspective of the students, and where funding may need to be increased. This study provided online graduate learners a voice regarding what mattered most to them and will allow decision makers to effectively evaluate future online graduate support.