| This study examined the relationship between the frequency and specific method of software facilitated communication used by faculty and student outcomes in online adult education university courses. The research project quantitatively analyzed data obtained from the online course management software system's archival database. The project consisted of three separate studies: a preliminary study, which served as a proof of concept for the instruments, measures and forms utilized, a main research study, and a validation study. One hundred sixteen online courses were examined in the three studies with 80 of those courses included in the main study.; The results of this study indicate that there is a clear relationship between the method of software facilitated communication employed (basic or advanced) and the results achieved on student final exams. In contrast, the overall level of student participation was not significantly impacted by the frequency or method of software facilitated communication employed. These results were consistent across all three studies in the research project. The results of the research study indicated that the use of advanced software features, providing more sophisticated and feature rich interaction, is more important to student outcomes than the overall quantity of communication. |
