College online courses have strong design in scaffolding but vary widely in supporting student agency and interactivity

This study develops a rubric comprising three quality concepts critical to addressing online learning challenges: Scaffolding, which supports student self-regulated learning processes; Student Agency, which promotes student choices and voices; and Social Presence and Interpersonal Interaction, which enhances student connection with peers and instructors. We then examine the extent to which college online courses reflect the three concepts following a 3-point scoring scale (“beginning,” “developing,” or “proficient”) based on observation data collected from 100 randomly selected courses. Our results indicate that about two-thirds of the courses score at or above the developing level, demonstrating some but insufficient incorporation of design features that can enhance the three concepts. While most courses are above the developing level for “Scaffolding,” less than half and less than one-third reach the developing level for the other two concepts. We further identify variations in course design based on instructor characteristics, where female instructors, instructors with higher educational attainment, and instructors teaching fewer credit hours had higher scores.