Initiation and Maintenance of Student-Instructor Rapport in Online Classes

Abraham E. Flanigan; Mete Akcaoglu; Emily Ray

doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100844

Initiation and Maintenance of Student-Instructor Rapport in Online Classes

Abraham E. Flanigan, Mete Akcaoglu, Emily Ray

Georgia Southern University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

16 Scopus citations

Abstract

 We investigated the behaviors and contextual factors college instructors rely upon to cultivate rapport with
 students in asynchronous online courses. Nineteen phenomenological interviews revealed that online instructors
 view rapport-building as a two-pronged process of initiating and subsequently maintaining rapport with students.
 Findings also indicated that online instructors rely upon different rapport-related strategies and contextual
 factors to initiate and maintain rapport. During the first weeks of the semester, these instructors rely upon
 connecting, information sharing, and common grounding behaviors to initiate a sense of rapport from their
 students. Going forward throughout the semester, these instructors rely upon attentive and courteous behaviors
 while providing learners with personalized instruction to maintain rapport. Findings from the present study
 provide insights into how college instructors approach the rapport-building process with students in online
 learning environments and can be used as a framework for helping college instructors make rapport-related
 decisions in their online classes.

Original language	American English
Journal	The Internet and Higher Education
Volume	53
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100844
State	Published - Dec 15 2021

Keywords

Computer-mediated
Higher education
Online learning
Student-instructor rapport
learning environments

DC Disciplines

Education
Educational Psychology

Access to Document

10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100844License: Unspecified

Cite this

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title = "Initiation and Maintenance of Student-Instructor Rapport in Online Classes",

abstract = " We investigated the behaviors and contextual factors college instructors rely upon to cultivate rapport with students in asynchronous online courses. Nineteen phenomenological interviews revealed that online instructors view rapport-building as a two-pronged process of initiating and subsequently maintaining rapport with students. Findings also indicated that online instructors rely upon different rapport-related strategies and contextual factors to initiate and maintain rapport. During the first weeks of the semester, these instructors rely upon connecting, information sharing, and common grounding behaviors to initiate a sense of rapport from their students. Going forward throughout the semester, these instructors rely upon attentive and courteous behaviors while providing learners with personalized instruction to maintain rapport. Findings from the present study provide insights into how college instructors approach the rapport-building process with students in online learning environments and can be used as a framework for helping college instructors make rapport-related decisions in their online classes.",

keywords = "Computer-mediated, Higher education, Online learning, Student-instructor rapport, learning environments",

author = "Flanigan, {Abraham E.} and Mete Akcaoglu and Emily Ray",

note = "Online instructors differentiate between rapport initiation and maintenance. * Online instructors rely on different behaviors to initiate and to maintain rapport. * Instructors view large enrollments as a barrier to rapport in online classes. * Instructor social presence was seen as consequential for rapport.",

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doi = "10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100844",

language = "American English",

volume = "53",

journal = "The Internet and Higher Education",

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T1 - Initiation and Maintenance of Student-Instructor Rapport in Online Classes

AU - Flanigan, Abraham E.

AU - Akcaoglu, Mete

AU - Ray, Emily

N1 - Online instructors differentiate between rapport initiation and maintenance. * Online instructors rely on different behaviors to initiate and to maintain rapport. * Instructors view large enrollments as a barrier to rapport in online classes. * Instructor social presence was seen as consequential for rapport.

PY - 2021/12/15

Y1 - 2021/12/15

N2 - We investigated the behaviors and contextual factors college instructors rely upon to cultivate rapport with students in asynchronous online courses. Nineteen phenomenological interviews revealed that online instructors view rapport-building as a two-pronged process of initiating and subsequently maintaining rapport with students. Findings also indicated that online instructors rely upon different rapport-related strategies and contextual factors to initiate and maintain rapport. During the first weeks of the semester, these instructors rely upon connecting, information sharing, and common grounding behaviors to initiate a sense of rapport from their students. Going forward throughout the semester, these instructors rely upon attentive and courteous behaviors while providing learners with personalized instruction to maintain rapport. Findings from the present study provide insights into how college instructors approach the rapport-building process with students in online learning environments and can be used as a framework for helping college instructors make rapport-related decisions in their online classes.

AB - We investigated the behaviors and contextual factors college instructors rely upon to cultivate rapport with students in asynchronous online courses. Nineteen phenomenological interviews revealed that online instructors view rapport-building as a two-pronged process of initiating and subsequently maintaining rapport with students. Findings also indicated that online instructors rely upon different rapport-related strategies and contextual factors to initiate and maintain rapport. During the first weeks of the semester, these instructors rely upon connecting, information sharing, and common grounding behaviors to initiate a sense of rapport from their students. Going forward throughout the semester, these instructors rely upon attentive and courteous behaviors while providing learners with personalized instruction to maintain rapport. Findings from the present study provide insights into how college instructors approach the rapport-building process with students in online learning environments and can be used as a framework for helping college instructors make rapport-related decisions in their online classes.

KW - Computer-mediated

KW - Higher education

KW - Online learning

KW - Student-instructor rapport

KW - learning environments

UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1096751621000531

U2 - 10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100844

DO - 10.1016/j.iheduc.2021.100844

M3 - Article

VL - 53

JO - The Internet and Higher Education

JF - The Internet and Higher Education

ER -

Initiation and Maintenance of Student-Instructor Rapport in Online Classes

Abstract

Keywords

DC Disciplines

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