Academic Coaching in an Online Environment: Impact on Student Achievement

Although the idea of online education is not new, the development of massive open online courses (MOOCs) brought the idea of using 100% online courses in higher education to the forefront of educational debate. As more universities offer 100% online programs, concerns about student retention and academic outcomes continue to linger. In addition to these concerns in general, there are questions regarding the increasingly large class sizes and the effectiveness of different ways of minimizing the impact of this size on both instructors and students. Academic coaching provides a potential way of addressing both concerns. In this model, trained coaches assist instructors with course related matters such as grading assignments, overseeing and grading discussion boards, and grading and providing feedback on written assignments. However, there are concerns regarding the effectiveness of the model on student academic outcomes and student satisfaction. The current study examined differences in student satisfaction and the role of Need for Cognition (NfC) in student outcomes. Results indicate that students with higher levels of NfC are more satisfied with professors, courses, and programs overall both when coaches are used and when they are not.