A Study on the Predictors of Success and Satisfaction in an Online Higher Education Program in Turkey

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of success and satisfaction in an
undergraduate distance education ELL degree program in Turkey. In this study, the
independent variables are instructor support, student interaction and collaboration, personal
relevance, authentic learning, active learning, and student autonomy and the dependent
variables are student success and student satisfaction. The participants were 85 distance
education students enrolled at the English Language and Literature Distance Education
Program at Karabük University. In order to collect data, Education Learning Environment
Survey (DELES), developed and validated by Walker and Fraser (2003), was used. This
survey includes six psycho-social scales: 1) instructor support, 2) student interaction and
collaboration, 3) personal relevance, 4) authentic learning, 5) active learning, and 6) student
autonomy. In order to ascertain the relation between the variables, a correlation analysis was
carried out. A moderate level of correlation was observed among the variables of the study. In
addition, two regression tests were administered in order to measure the influence of the
independent variables on both success and satisfaction. The results indicate that the predictors
of student satisfaction are instructor support, authentic learning, and personal relevance,
whereas the only strong predictor of academic success was authentic learning.