Cognitive, Social, and Teaching Presence as Predictors of Students' Satisfaction in Distance Learning

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether cognitive, social, and teaching presence were significant predictors of the overall students’ satisfaction in hybrid learning courses. The used research design was non-experimental and correlational in nature. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to determine to what extent cognitive, social, and teaching presence predicted the overall students’ satisfaction. The data in this quantitative study was collected using a self-report survey. Participants were two hundred fourteen (n=214) undergraduate students, between the ages from 19-24 years old. The findings of this study showed that cognitive, social, and teaching presence explained 39% of the variance in students’ satisfaction. Cognitive presence was found to have the largest contribution in predicting students’ satisfaction and it was a better predictor of students satisfaction compared with teaching and social presence. Due to the importance of cognitive, social, and teaching presence in predicting students’ satisfaction, it is recommended that improving these factors in the distance courses be taken into consideration. Furthermore, since cognitive presence in this study was found to be a strong predictor of students’ satisfaction, it is recommended that faculty need to focus on this presence especially, and assure that students are able to reach the final stage of cognitive presence.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n2s1p439