The Relationship between Instructional Interaction Method and Student's Persistence in Online Education

The aim of this study was the analysis of the relationship between instructional interaction methods and student's persistence in online education. A survey research methodology was used to examine the relationship between synchronous instructional interaction methods (such as chatting) and asynchronous instructional interaction methods (such as discussion forum and email) with the student's persistence in online courses. The findings of the research indicated the existence of positive relationship between the use of discussion forums and email by the teachers and the use of them by the students. Also, the findings revealed that in 40 percent of online courses, the primary method of instructor's interaction and the primary method of student's interaction was the same and that was combining chatting and email. As the research literature confirmed, the findings of the study showed that the choice of special methods of interaction can increase the use of that method by the students. These results emphasized on the important role of instructor –as a facilitator – in online learning process so that it can cause the increase of persistence rate in online courses.