Does My Course Provide Regular and Substantive Interaction?

For a 3-credit, 15-week course, plan for students to spend at least one hour a week on activities like writing, working on a project, doing problems or lab work, participating in a discussion, taking an assessment, doing a computer-assisted tutorial, etc. These activities will help your course meet the requirement for substantive, academic interaction. 

To meet the RSI requirement, your course needs interactions from at least two categories: 

• Direct instruction

  Direct instruction

  Direct instruction is live, synchronous instruction where you discuss academic content and students have the opportunity to ask questions. Instructor videos, such as mini-lectures and how-tos, do not meet this requirement. You can include an interactive component with those materials to meet one of the other RSI categories. 

  • Optional live study sessions via Zoom or chat: Courses with no set meeting time in UAOnline cannot require students to attend on a fixed schedule. If you want these to count towards a grade, you must provide an asynchronous alternative
  • One-on-one sessions with students based on their schedules: To qualify for RSI, these sessions must discuss course content, not just coordination or general topics. They should appear on the syllabus schedule (e.g., Week 3: required one-on-one project ideas meeting)
• Student assessment and/or feedback

  Student assessment and/or feedback

  Grading and feedback must be from the instructor to count towards RSI. Automated grading does not count, even if the instructor wrote the automated feedback. It’s fine to mix levels of feedback, such as providing short feedback on quizzes and in-depth feedback on a project proposal or draft paper. Feedback on non-graded activities counts toward RSI. You can provide feedback in writing, video or audio recording, or discussion with the student.

  • Instructor grading and feedback that directs student learning: To count towards RSI, feedback should be in-depth and help students develop in the course. A grade or general statement (e.g., “Good!” or “Needs work”) is not enough for RSI. Grading with detailed assignment rubrics can count towards RSI, especially if combined with holistic feedback
  • Class-level feedback can qualify towards RSI if it is specific and helps most students develop in the course. For example, an announcement and/or short video that says “Most students struggled with X on the last assignment, so let’s walk through it step by step….” can count towards providing regular feedback, so long as it is tailored to the specific class. To meet RSI in this category, students should also receive individual feedback several times during the course
  • Emailing students with personalized feedback based on multiple assignments: Putting this on the schedule (e.g., instructor check-in emails) makes it predictable for students
• Providing information or responding to questions

  Providing information or responding to questions

  To count towards RSI, these activities must be academic and relevant to the course, not just cover logistics like due dates, how to use a platform or app, study practices, etc.

  • Weekly announcements that include course content, such as a preview of major concepts
  • Regularly set office hours: Students do not have to attend to count this as an activity for RSI, but they must be instructor-initiated, not just by request
  • Regularly requesting (and answering!) student questions on the course content on a discussion board or collaborative document
• Facilitating group discussion

  Facilitating group discussion

  • Discussion boards with content-focused instructor participation
  • Collaborative work, such as writing or annotating a document together, adding a slide to a deck and commenting on each other’s slides, wikis, etc.
  • Group assignments or projects with instructor check-in meetings. Meetings should be scheduled around student availability and may need to include asynchronous feedback
  • Class discussions and study assistance in a multimedia (e.g., VoiceThread) or a chat-based platform (e.g., Microsoft Teams). Please visit our Peer Interaction Tools page for more on these options

  The instructor should actively guide the discussion or collaboration for it to count as RSI. This does not mean responding to every student contribution.

Sample Courses That Meet the RSI Standard

These examples illustrate the minimum needed to meet the RSI standard.

• Courses That Meet the RSI Standard

  Courses That Meet the RSI Standard

  Meets RSI Standard?	Course Interactions	RSI Criteria
  Yes	The instructor sends out a weekly announcement that introduces the main concept/s of the week and links to a discussion board for any questions. The instructor monitors and replies to that discussion board. Students complete several assignments throughout the semester which the instructor grades and comments on.	Providing information or responding to questions about the content Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework
  Yes	Students complete a weekly problem set or assignment, with unit tests every 3 weeks. Each week, the instructor reviews the problem sets and posts an announcement advising students about common errors based on the class performance. They provide individual feedback on the tests, including notes on how students solved the problems and what they should study.  The instructor holds weekly drop-in student hours.	Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework Providing information or responding to questions about the content
  Yes	Students are required to post in a weekly discussion board, which the instructor participates in. The instructor holds weekly drop-in student hours. Most assessments are automatically graded, except for essay questions on the midterm and final exam.	Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content Providing information or responding to questions about the content
  Yes	Students are required to meet with the instructor early in the term to discuss their internship goals. They log their internship experience and reply to instructor prompts in a weekly journal, which the instructor comments on. The journal serves as an ongoing conversation with each student, not just a record of grades/performance.	Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework Providing information or responding to questions about the content
  Yes	Every other week, students create and annotate a collaborative document with their questions and observations about the content. The instructor participates and guides their work. On the other weeks, students submit an ungraded draft for feedback or assignment that the instructor grades.	Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content Assessing or providing feedback on a student’s coursework

• Courses That Do Not Meet RSI

  Courses That Do Not Meet the RSI Standard

  Meets RSI Standard?	Course Interactions	RSI Criteria
  No	Students watch videos of the instructor and take automatically graded quizzes. The instructor grades the midterm and final exam.  The instructor holds weekly office hours.	This course only meets one criterion: Providing information or responding to questions about the content It doesn’t have enough regular, instructor-initiated feedback to qualify for RSI in that category. The instructor could meet the standard by adding more regular feedback or facilitating regular group discussions.
  No	Students complete weekly automated activities in the textbook homework platform. The instructor grades the midterm and final exam.  The instructor posts weekly announcements about due dates.	This does not provide enough regular, instructor-initiated interaction to qualify for RSI in any category.  The instructor could meet the standard by: Expanding announcements with class feedback on the previous week and explanations of challenging topics Adding a few instructor-graded components throughout the term Holding weekly office hours
  No	Students complete weekly automated activities and chapter tests in a homework platform. The instructor posts weekly reminders about due dates, contacts students who fall behind, and is available for student help calls Monday - Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.	This course only meets one criterion: Providing information or responding to questions about the content The instructor could meet the standard by: Adding a few instructor-graded components throughout the term Holding optional study sessions where they walk students through the content

What Goes in My Syllabus Statement?

Your syllabus should clearly state:

• That the course has no set meeting times
• How you will provide regular and substantive interaction

Here is a sample statement to adapt for your course specifics:

Update the section in brackets based on your course design. Please review our Syllabus Guide for other syllabus recommendations and policy language. If you are unsure about your syllabus statement, please check with your department or our instructional design team for guidance (see the Help & Resources tab).

If your course meets on campus or online, you do not need to include this statement. Instead, provide information about when and where the class will meet.

Help and Additional Resources

Please reach out to our instructional design team if you have any questions or would like assistance designing appropriate and manageable interactions for your course! We have guides for a range of activities and UAA Core Tools. Email us at uaa_design@alaska.edu or book a session on our appointment calendar (click on a gray block to book it).

Self-Review Template

Please use our RSI Self-Review Template to evaluate your course if your college asks you to provide additional documentation that your course meets RSI. Our instructional design team is happy to help you if you have questions about how to complete your self-review.

Sample Guidance from Other Institutions

• UAF iTeachU: Regular and Substantive Interaction
• Everett Community College: Regular and Substantive Interaction – An Overview for Instructors of Online Courses
•  SUNY Empire State College: Design Your Course: Regular and Substantive Interaction and SUNY Online Course Quality Rubric
• Umpqua Community College: RSI Guidelines
• University of Houston: Regular and Substantive Interaction
  

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I hold some required class meetings on Zoom?

  Can I hold some required class meetings on Zoom?

  Students rely on the meeting schedule in UAOnline when they enroll in their courses. Courses with no set meeting time in UAOnline cannot require students to attend on a fixed schedule. 

  You can provide optional study sessions or activities, but must provide a meaningful asynchronous alternative. (Watching the recording is not equivalent, as it doesn’t allow for interaction. Please talk to our instructional design team if you need help designing meaningful alternatives.)

• What “other instructional activities” has our accrediting agency approved?

  What “other instructional activities” has our accrediting agency approved?

  UAA is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). Because our current accreditation cycle is the first one to use the updated definitions for regular and substantive interaction, we do not currently have other approved instructional activities.

• I’m available whenever students ask for help. Does that meet the standard?

  I’m available whenever students ask for help. Does that meet the standard?

  Thank you for everything you’re doing to help students succeed in your course! Many UAA instructors are highly responsive to student needs and spend many hours answering questions, helping students navigate challenges and online resources, and reaching out to students who aren’t participating. Your work makes a huge difference for students.

  RSI requires scheduled, instructor-initiated interactions, which is why general availability is insufficient to meet the requirement. If you aren’t sure how to adapt your course while preserving the support structure that works for your students, please contact our instructional design team (under the Help & Resources tab).

• I’ve created all my own course videos and materials. Why doesn’t that count as direct instruction?

  I’ve created all my own course videos and materials. Why doesn’t that count as direct instruction?

  The Department of Education has clarified that "direct instruction" only refers to live, synchronous instruction. To qualify as direct instruction, students must also have the opportunity to ask questions and hear your answers to others’ questions as part of the instruction. 

  You can make your course materials interactive by using a tool like VoiceThread, which allows for commenting and discussions. This would count as facilitating a class discussion, which would help the course meet RSI under a different category.

• Is this new? Why are we talking about it now?

  Is this new? Why are we talking about it now?

  Distance courses have been required to provide regular and substantive interaction for a long time. In 2021, the U.S. Department of Education updated its definitions and has since expanded its guidance on how those definitions will be applied. While we are confident that the vast majority of UAA online courses meet and often surpass these expectations, it is important to ensure all of our courses meet the federal requirements.