| A state university's administration was asked to evaluate a newly developed web-based converged classroom modality. The problem was that growth and diffusion of technology has outpaced knowledge of the utility of a converged multimedia classroom modality, and no research has investigated students' satisfaction with a converged classroom. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship of student satisfaction with converged classroom design characteristics. The research questions investigated students' satisfaction with live and prerecorded video media, instructor-student and student-student classroom communication, and flexible enrollment options. The theoretical foundation included cognitive learning theories of multimedia and instruction and management decision-making. The design approach was a cross-sectional survey with a random sampling of 89 students. The Pearson's r correlation analysis indicated statistical significance with student satisfaction for the following variables: multimedia use with 17 correlations at alpha =.05 and multiple regression predictive results of no less than r2 = .29, p < .01, instructor-student interaction with 6 correlations at alpha = .01 and predictive results of r2 = .28, p < .01, and flexible enrollment options with 3 correlations at alpha =.01 and predictive results of r2 > = .33, p <= .01. These results showed that students tend to be satisfied with multimedia use, instructor interaction, and flexibility options. The results of the study may lead to positive social change for engineering students to choose synchronous online access to instructors, live and prerecorded multimedia, and flexible enrollment. These findings may also encourage community members who may have been hesitant to attempt an online program due to concerns about instructor support to enroll in a converged classroom modality. |
