What do the parts of RSI mean?
Let's look at the first parts of the definition: "instructor-initiated", "regular", and "substantive."
Instructor-initiated
It is important that instructors initiate conversations with individual and groups of students. This creates a sense that instructors are present in the class, and that the online activities are an important part of the learning process. Interaction initiated by instructors is how students know they aren’t being taught by a robot.
Regular
These conversations should be occurring regularly, at least once a week.
Early in the quarter it may be quite a bit more often, to the point of over-communicating. That will speed building a community among your students. Later in the quarter, you’ll be able to dial back a bit, especially as feedback on assignments takes some of the communication load.
Academically substantive
Academically substantive interactions both support students’ perception of the presence of the instructor and keep them focused on the course learning objectives. Examples of substantive interactions are:
- Guidance that is related to the academic content of the course
- Personalized detailed feedback about a student’s performance on assignments and assessments (“Good job” or “Great work!” isn’t sufficient. "The way you contrasted topic x with topic y was excellent" or "When you apply this theory, remember to consider the following issues..." is specific, and personalized to the student's goals.)
- Information that would help a student who did not earn full credit understand how to improve, or help a student who did well on the assignment know what was good about it.
- Not administrative in nature (e.g. responses to student requests to open up a quiz, or emailing a student a reminder to send in an assignment).
This is not to suggest that administrative, and community-building focused interactions don’t have value. However, there should be a healthy stream of content-focused conversation to keep the students learning.
Monitoring and Engaging
The U.S. Department of Education regulations read, in part, that regular interaction includes:
Monitoring the student’s academic engagement and success and ensuring that an instructor is responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in substantive interaction with the student when needed, on the basis of such monitoring, or upon request by the student.
Highline's definition includes the similar line, "Instructors must monitor student progress in the course and communicate with students as needed regarding their progress."
From the federal rules, the key is "monitoring... and engaging... when needed." Monitoring implies checking a student's overall progress in the course. Engaging, then, is focused on contacting the student regarding that progress. The idea of "when needed" is not well defined. However, the Federal Register notes that Links to an external site. "The Department's expectation is that instructors take a proactive approach to determining when students need assistance and then offering that assistance".
First Week Assignment
This part actually extends from a related part of the financial aid regulations. In order to determine if the student is eligible for financial aid, the Department of Education needs proof that the student started the course. A substantive assignment due by the third day of the class, with substantive feedback from the instructor, is an acceptable (to ED) standard for meeting that requirement.
Resources
Federal Register information on RSI Links to an external site.
SUNY Online Course Quality Rubric Links to an external site.