Undergraduate Student Teachers’ Perceptions of the Quality of Online Courses

Abstract

With the rapid growth of online instruction in teacher education colleges, the quality of online courses has become an important issue. The purpose of this study was to investigate Arab undergraduate students' perceptions of their learning experiences of fully asynchronous online courses at a teacher training college. The study sample comprised 103 Israeli Arab students, who were surveyed about the factors they perceived to be important to the quality of online learning. The questionnaire comprised items on four different aspects: course design, course content, interaction among students, and student-instructor interaction. The findings indicated that the learning experience was positive overall and the students were satisfied. They rated statements related to the importance of interacting with peers and with the instructor at a high level. On the other hand, the respondents rated the quality of interaction among peers and the quality of the collaborative learning activities provided for students in the online courses at a low level. Other findings revealed that the students preferred a consistent structure across all online courses delivered by the college. The findings of the current study constitute insights that might assist online instructors, instructional designers and college stakeholders to improve the quality of future online courses.