The Roles of Online Instructional Facilitators and Student Performance of Online Class Activity

The study investigates the effects of online instructional facilitator’s different qualities on student performance of online class activities. The study explores the roles of instructional facilitators who may influence student performance of online class activities and their academic achievement in online classes. The study employs a set of aggregated data from 1,362 subjects and 10 facilitators participated in multiple online classes. The results of independent samples t-test reveal that the student performance in online classes has no association with facilitators’ educational background or academic degree, demographic characteristics, student evaluation records and instructional achievement as well. The results of multiple regression analysis show that the facilitator engagement has a positive relation to the enhancement of student interaction, reading discussion messages, and the quality of discussion messages in online discussions. The results of correlation analysis show that the facilitator engagement has a positive impact on both increasing the number of reading discussion messages and enhancing the quality of discussion messages. The facilitator engagement increases the quantity of reading discussion postings and enhance the quality of discussion messages, which would be a substantial contribution to student performance by facilitators. The findings suggest that student performance and academic achievement in online classes are not independent of facilitator engagement