Abstract:
Academic research has consistently shown effective teacher presence to be a significant factor in student satisfaction, engagement, perceived learning, and sense of community. The need for effective teaching presence remains of significant importance, particularly with the vast growth of online courses and online degree programs. It is, therefore, also necessary to evaluate the instruments used to measure effective teaching presence. The purpose of this dissertation was an examination of the construct validity of a survey instrument developed to assess effective online teaching presence. This dissertation also assessed how well the construct validity of the teaching presence instrument fit the ICAP framework of observable student engagement behaviors. Data included teaching presence survey results from undergraduate students enrolled at a large research university in the United States. It also included students’ aggregate course time and log in frequency as measured by the Blackboard LMS. No demographic data were collected, other than gender, which did not reveal significant data in the study. The study found that the teaching presence instrument did not measure the teaching presence construct as intended. The study also found that the construct validity of the teaching presence instrument did not fit the ICAP framework of observable student engagement behaviors. An examination of the aggregate Blackboard data revealed fewer total course hours and fewer course log in frequencies for activities requiring more cognitive ability.
