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How Can I Ensure Regular and Substantive Interaction in Distance Education Courses?

Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) is the distinguishing feature that the US Department of Education uses to differentiate correspondence education from distance education. Correspondence education courses are mainly driven by student-initiated interactions triggered by completion of assignments. Distance education (or online courses) are driven by frequent instructor-initiated interactions with students focused on the content and competencies under development in the course. RSI must be predictable and occur on a regular basis that matches the length and content of the course. An easy way to ensure RSI occurs predictably and regularly is to add the opportunities to the course syllabus and schedule. Distance education instructors are also responsible for promptly and proactively engaging in RSI with students.

Instructors may find the acronym FAIRS helpful for remembering the kinds of instructional activities that count as RSI:

F-Facilitating direct instruction

A-Assessing and providing customized feedback on student coursework

I- Informing or responding to questions about course content or competencies under development in the course

R-Responding to student inquiries and needs

S-Supplementing instruction with institution, accreditator, or discipline-specific activities and assessments

Distance education courses must include at least 2 types of RSI instructional activities and our institution recommends including 2 or more each week for 16-week courses. Automatically graded tests and quizzes do not meet the RSI requirements but can still serve as an important component to courses. RSI inclusion in distance education matters because if it is missing, the US Department of Education can request funding back for students who used Title IV financial aid to take courses that do not meet the requirement.

There are several resources available to learn more about RSI at SIUE. The Office of Online Services and Educational Outreach has RSI content available online and ITS Instructional Design & Learning Technologies (ITS-IDLT) has instructional designers available to help review distance education courses for the presence of RSI and to help instructors brainstorm meaningful ways of including this crucial component in distance and traditional education courses. Remember that while RSI must be a component of distance education courses, it is a great instructional practice for all instructional modalities.