What is Substantive Interaction?

Federal regulations require “substantive interaction” between instructor and students for all online courses. Another way to think of this requirement is meaningful communication between instructor and student. The following guidelines are intended to help LSA instructors reflect on and build deliberate occasions for such communication into their courses.

Some examples of substantive interactions in online courses include:

• Office hours, especially if several appointments over the term are a course requirement
• Weekly announcements, either live or by video, that connect previous work to the upcoming week’s activities. Announcements can be created ahead of time and sent out through Canvas automatically.
• Brief overviews of assignments, setting them in context and explaining expectations, either live, by video, or via a detailed rubric
• Responses to discussion threads or detailed feedback on student work
• Discussion or social board check-ins
• Reviews or “round ups” of class discussions, and actively redirecting discussion where needed, whether they are synchronous or asynchronous
• Polls during synchronous lectures, especially if the instructor discusses the results
• Interactive videos with detailed feedback based on student responses to the interactive activities (quizzes, reflection points, etc.)

Guidelines for Substantive Interaction

1. Interaction initiated by instructor: Rather than wait for students to reach out, the instructor initiates communication themselves.

2. Initiation of interaction must be regular and frequent: Students should be able to expect some meaningful communication with the instructor each week. Creating a communication plan with specific times set aside for announcements, feedback, and discussions can be helpful in ensuring this. See below for a sample.

3. Interaction must be meaningful and academic in nature: Interaction is relevant to the projects/assignments, and conveys more information than a grade alone.

4. Interaction is proactive: The instructor monitors student progress and engages proactively with students to keep everyone on track.

The image below shows some of the most common interactions in fully asynchronous classes, and may help visualize what is considered substantive.

Repurposing In-Person Interaction

Substantive interaction isn’t new, of course. It’s something that instructors are already familiar with from in-person courses. Below you can find some common examples that could be re-purposed for online teaching with minimal changes: 

• Walking around the classroom and checking on student discussion groups. (dropping in on breakout groups)
• Meeting with each student individually during class or in office hours. (individual meetings during online office hours)
• Demonstrating lab procedures and observing students in labs. (video demonstrations)
• Using a live polling tool during class time. (interactive polls in lecture videos)
• Providing personalized comments for an individual student’s assignment or exam. These comments can be written, audio or video comments. (no changes necessary)
• Posting announcements, email, current events or social media check-ins about academic aspects of the class. (no changes necessary)
• Creating small working/study groups that are moderated by the instructor or GSI. (visiting Canvas Group workspaces; synchronous discussion sections)

Communicating Expectations

A communications plan establishes when and how an instructor plans to interact with the class, and helps set expectations. This is especially important in an online course, as students may feel anxious without the opportunities for casual communication provided by classroom meetings.