Testing the Impact of Student Preference for Face-to-Face Communication on Online Course Satisfaction

Fully online courses and face-to-face (FtF) courses with online components are becoming more commonplace in higher education. Despite increased numbers of course offerings, online courses continue to have high attrition rates. The current study used Media Richness Theory (MRT) and Channel Expansion Theory (CET) to examine whether student preferences for FtF communication affected students’ communication satisfaction and course satisfaction online. Although students were more highly satisfied with FtF communication and courses, no evidence was found supporting a FtF preference negatively impacting online course satisfaction. Rather, results suggest that student communication satisfaction with online instructors is the most significant predictor of student satisfaction with online courses.