Students’ Perceptions of Institutional Services and Online Learning Self-Efficacy

The purpose of this study was to explore new online students’ perceptions of self-efficacy and satisfaction with institutional resources. A mixed methods approach was used to better understand online students’ perceptions. During the first phase of the study, 155 new online graduate students were surveyed about the importance and their satisfaction with university resources as well as their online self-efficacy. During the second phase of the study, follow-up interviews were conducted with six participants to better understand their perceptions. Participants reported being aware of the institutional resources and having positive experiences with online course tools. Furthermore, most participants found administrative services such as Registration and Financial Aid and Scholarship services the most important. Participants also reported high levels of online self-efficacy. While the results illustrate student perceptions of institutional resources, more studies are needed to explore how participants with limited prior experience in online courses would evaluate the effectiveness of institutional resources.