Requirement: Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)

Interaction is a Requirement of Distance Education

A Distance Education course without Regular and Substantive Interaction is considered a correspondence course and not a DE course.

What is Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)?

Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) has replaced what was formerly referred to as "regular and effective contact."  The language was updated in Federal Ed Code, Title 5, and Accreditation. 

How does ACCJC determine if RSI is present in your course?

When we go through an accreditation cycle, ACCJC observers will use the ACCJC RSI Rubric to determine whether the course meets the expectations for RSI.

• Access the Quality Continuum Rubric for Distance Education Links to an external site.
• The rubric provides four levels as: Initial, Emerging, Developed, and Highly Developed. 
  • Note that a rating of "Initial" on too many courses can still trigger an ACCJC recommendation, so we need to meet at least "emerging" 

Tip:  Canvas Page Dedicated to RSI

A really helpful strategy is to include a page in your Canvas course that is intended to make it very clear how your course includes engagement and interaction.  This page can either be student-facing or it could be a page that is kept unpublished and solely viewable by you and a course observer.

What might RSI look like in your course?

Here are some tips for ensuring RSI is easily observable in your course.

Before the Course Begins

• Pre-Course Communication 

• • Send an email 2-weeks prior to class, 1-week prior to class, and 1-day prior to class.  Also put these emails into the class announcements to ensure students who add late also get to benefit from the initial information.  Posting as an announcement also provides observable RSI within Canvas. 

• Canvas Page:  Communication and Interaction 

• • Clearly explain your communication and interaction policies in your course syllabus and also in a separate Canvas Page.   Using a Canvas page brings the information into the Canvas learning environment and also allows you to use a course link for continual reminders to students.  Include:

• • • Office hours:  Set up virtual office hours (e.g., "Coffee Hour") and make the links available to students.  Encourage students to use office hours to ask questions or for additional support. 
    • Preferred communication methods:  Include email, Canvas Inbox, preferred phone number (not a personal phone number), and any other preferred means of communication
    • Frequency of interactions:  Include interaction expectations, response times, and participation guidelines.

• Canvas Modules 

• • In each element within your modules, identify opportunities to very clearly show you are committed to RSI.  Include a course link to your “Communication and Interaction” page throughout your course to continually remind your students to communicate and interact with you. 

• Canvas Page:  Grading and Feedback 

• • Clearly explain to students how they will receive feedback from you.  Where can students find your feedback, how can they access it, what can they do if they don’t understand the feedback or would like more feedback? 

• • Auto-graded assignments do not count as substantive interaction.  

• Canvas Survey 

• • Add an anonymous survey to allow students to continually provide you with feedback about the course. 

• • If you make changes based on survey, post an announcement explaining the feedback you received and the solution you implemented.

• Canvas Discussion:  Class Questions or Class Q and A 

• • Ask students to utilize a specific discussion forum for class questions. 

• • If a student emails you a question about the class or assignments and your answer could benefit other students, share the question anonymously in the class Q and A forum and provide your answer. 

• Class Introduction Discussion or Icebreaker Discussion 

• • Include a class discussion to allow students to introduce themselves.  Include an educational component to make it a substantive discussion.   

• • Post Content as an Optional Discussion 

• • Typically, the learning content is provided within a Canvas page and if students have questions, they use the class Q and A forum.  What if, the opportunity to ask questions or expand on the learning content was available in the same space?  To do this, you might consider posting your lecture content as an ungraded optional discussion where students can read or watch the content and then ask questions, or share insight, in an optional ungraded discussion.  
• Developing course content
  • Publisher provided content, or content from the internet, does not count as RSI.  If you are using a publisher course pack where the content is provided and the assessments/activities are auto-graded you must be even more purposefully with the ways in which you are meeting RSI.
  • Content visibly created or mediated by the Instructor does count as RSI.

Once the Course is Underway

• Class Introduction Discussion or Icebreaker Discussion 

• • Respond to each student in the introductions discussion forum.  By actively participating you are building community and modeling engagement for students. 

• • Post an announcement follow-up to the introductions where you remind them to read your replies and use this time to also help build more connections among students.  

• “Message Students Who” 

• • Use the “Message Students Who” feature in the speedgrader to engage with students and remind students who haven’t started the course or submitted initial assignments. 

• • When you message students individually, also consider posting an Announcement that explains to students how you will be sending individual reminder emails.  This also ensures ACCJC observers will know that you are doing this to support student success.  

• Post Weekly Academic-Related Announcements 

• • Weekly announcements shows a commitment to “regular” interactions, meaning, interactions are predictable and occur in accordance with the length and course content. 

• • Post weekly announcements that include reminders about due dates, including key concepts students should focus on as they complete assignments. 

• • Post weekly announcements that cover more than logistics. Include reflections on the previous week's discussions, connections to current events, or highlight key student contributions. 

• • Frequently provide substantive information, and announcements beyond reminders that discuss previous topics, trends in assignments, or that highlights key concepts.  Frequently encourage participation and questions and respond in a timely manner with detailed information and ideas.  

• Participate, Facilitate, or Expand on Discussions: 

• • Some faculty like to participate directly in the discussion, others like the discussions to be solely students discussing with other students. Either strategy is ok as long as the faculty member is showing engagement.
    • For faculty who participate directly in the discussion:
      • RSI is very easily observed.
      • Regularly post to the discussion forums by guiding conversations, proposing counterpoints, and encouraging student engagement. 

• • • • Use might use different techniques such as individual responses, summary responses, or announcements highlighting important ideas or common misconceptions. 

• • • For faculty who refrain from direct participation in student discussions:
      • RSI is more challenging to observe, you must be purposeful in how you show your engagement in the discussion.
      • Utilize the class announcements within the week to show you are reading the responses.  You could highlight an interesting response from a student, a common question that is occurring, or additional resources or insights that might deepen the learning experience. 
      • Use the Canvas Discussion Summary tool to summarize student responses and your reaction.
      • Invite further reflections by asking deeper questions inspired by the student responses.

• Provide Personalized Feedback: 

• • Give specific, constructive, and personalized feedback on assignments, using rubrics and the gradebook comment section. Offer suggestions for improvement as well as recognizing accomplishments.   

• • Use class announcements to remind students how to see their feedback. 

• • Post an announcement that explains the common feedback you have provided to students.  This is a great strategy that shows an ACCJC observer the types of feedback you are giving your students while also reminding students to check their feedback.

• Monitor and Support: 

• • Regularly monitor student progress and reach out to those struggling or missing assignments. Offer additional resources or support when needed.  Send these as individual messages and as class reminders using announcements. 

• • You might like to provide your course content as an optional discussion rather than a content page.  This could allow for students to ask questions or share additional information in the same space as they listen to your lecture or read course information. 

• • Engage in the learning activities that accompany recorded lectures to clarify misconceptions and provide further instruction. 

• Mid-Course Feedback: 

• • Create a mid-term survey to gather student feedback on the course. Review the responses, make reasonable adjustments, and share the results with students in a course announcement. 

As the Course Wraps Up

• Remind students to check their grades 

• • Post a class announcement and send individual messages to remind students to check their grades.  Remind them about your grading policy and late work or revising work policy. Ensure students know the date of the final day they can participate in the online class. 

• Offer Review and Study Support: 

• • Hold optional review or study sessions to help students prepare for exams or final assessments. 

• • Post final announcements summarizing key course content and addressing any common challenges. 

• Provide Closure: 

• • Reach out individually to students based on their performance, offering encouragement or additional resources for improvement. 

Further Learning:  Understanding Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI)

The following information about RSI is licensed for reuse and adaptation from Empire State University
Links to an external site.


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Including regular and substantive interaction in courses is more than a federal requirement. It is also a hallmark of effective teaching. Decades of research have established that teacher-student interactions are an essential component of learning. So, while it may be tempting to see the U.S. Department of Education’s mandate as a burden imposed from outside the university, the reality is that ensuring regular and substantive interaction is entirely consistent with the best practices of online course design and delivery. For interactions to be considered RSI, they need to meet the following characteristics:

• They should be mostly instructor-initiated
• They need to be regular, scheduled and predictable, and
• They must be substantive, i.e. focused on the course subject.

Each of the interactions will be defined and examples of each will be provided.

Instructor-Initiated

To differentiate distance education courses from correspondence courses, where students are responsible for initiating contact, the interactions need to be started by the instructor. The instructor should expect to take an active part in initiating and guiding a range of interactions with the students throughout the semester. This ensures that interactions are not optional and left up to each student’s individual discretion, rather, they are an integral part of the instructional plan for the course.

Examples: individualized emails, instructor-facilitated discussions, scheduled virtual office hours, personalized feedback on assignments

Regular, Scheduled, and Predictable Interactions

Interactions with students should be frequently and consistently repeated throughout the semester. This means that once a course begins, long intervals of time should not pass between the initial instructor interaction with students. The mode of interaction may vary throughout the course depending on the instructor aims and the needs of the students. But the regular flow of interactions should remain as consistent as possible. To be scheduled and predictable, course design materials should describe the expected frequency of interaction with the instructor, including times and dates of the virtual office hours if applicable, grading feedback, announcements, and potential email communication.

Examples: weekly course announcements written specifically for the course, weekly summaries or highlights of discussion posts, regularly scheduled online review or help sessions.

Substantive Interactions

Interactions should be connected to the subject of the course and contribute to the students’ progress toward course, program, and university learning objectives. Routine procedural interactions, such as reminders of upcoming deadlines or activities like assigning grades are not ‘substantive’ on their own unless they are accompanied by personalized feedback or suggestions for improvement. This does not mean that interactions designed to welcome students or build classroom community are not important, merely that they are not sufficient by themselves.

Examples: announcements previewing or reviewing difficult content, emails previewing concepts introduced in the next unit, and listing questions for students to have in mind when reading the textbook chapters

Strategies for Including RSI via Course Design and Course Delivery

Regulations do not dictate what activities to use and how often to include them in the course to meet the RSI requirement. We can think of these regulations in terms of a scale as shown below that allows us to be flexible and creative when designing our online courses.

For instance, the recorded lectures on their own are not considered to be RSI, but if the recorded lectures are followed by the discussion forums on the topics and issues raised in the videos, that would make them RSI. Auto-graded quizzes do not provide the opportunity for interactions and personalized feedback. If the instructor follows up with the extensive summary of the most common mistakes on the quizzes and provides additional instructional support and ways for students to reach out with questions, this will move these quizzes closer to the RSI.

There are many strategies for including RSI in online courses through course design, delivery techniques, and approaches. Course delivery components can be designed in advance and added as hidden course elements to support and guide instructors’ interaction with students. Resources for common misperceptions, timely tips and anticipated areas of struggle can be designed and included for instructors to draw upon during the course.  For example, content summaries, module previews, and reading guides can be incorporated in personalized emails and announcements as additional support for students who need it. 

Course Design and Delivery Strategies: Mix and Match

Course Design and Delivery Ideas for RSI

Design	Delivery
Course includes the option and tools for instructors to hold optional virtual office hours. The tools can be hidden and used only by the instructors interested in this option.	Instructor unhides the virtual office hours links and updates the syllabus to include times and days in the course schedule. Office hours are utilized to provide a forum for students to ask questions and to supplement instruction in more intentional ways.
Syllabus includes clear expectations for interactions, how frequently students can expect to hear from the instructor, and how quickly they can expect a response to questions and to work they submit. Any synchronous meetings/requirements must be identified in the syllabus detailing the preferred method of communication. Participation expectations for students should be included as well.	Instructor updates the syllabus to identify preferred methods of communication, expected frequency of communication, and information about synchronous meetings if applicable.
Course includes easily accessible instructor contact information with instructor name, email, and preferred phone number.	Instructor personalizes contact information before the course is open to students.
Course includes Announcements that offer one-way, public communication from instructor to students. Course can include recommended announcements written by the course developer to provide additional guidelines for instructors teaching the course for the first time.	Instructor regularly posts Announcements. While announcements usually cover the procedural information, such as reminders of course deadlines, they should also be used to support instruction, e.g. synthesize and then comment on questions from previous week, note trends observed in assignments or quizzes.
“Ask a Question” discussion forum is included in the course for students to openly ask questions about the weekly course material to be answered by the instructor and/or other students.	Instructor encourages students to use the “Ask a Question” discussion forum and regularly checks for questions.
Course includes at least one high-engagement activity within the first two weeks of class allowing students to get to know one another and begin to build community (I.e., Icebreaker discussion area where students introduce themselves, the first synchronous session where students introduce themselves, etc.).	Instructor posts her/his introduction in this high-engagement activity and actively participates in it.
Instructor-facilitated discussion forums are included throughout the course if applicable to the course context and outcomes. The discussions are designed to allow for the instructor to engage with students and students to engage with each other.	Instructor regularly posts to course discussion forums to pose guiding questions related to the course subject, propose counter points of view students may not be considering, establish connections among student’s ideas, and provide encouragement. Consider different discussion response techniques such as individual responses, summary responses or posting an announcement with the favorite ideas, most common misconceptions, counter points.
Learning activities/assessments that require timely instructor feedback via detailed rubrics and written comments.	Instructor utilizes course rubrics and gradebook written comment areas to provide timely feedback on learning activities/assessments. Feedback should communicate to students both their accomplishments and areas they may need to improve as well as concrete suggestions for actions students can take in the future to make progress in their learning.
Course includes a survey midway through the course that provides instructor with feedback as to the content of the course, issues with concepts or assignments, need for additional resources, etc.	Instructor reviews midterm student surveys to make adjustments to the instruction and conduct edits as deemed necessary.
Course includes recorded lectures that are accompanied by the discussion forums or wikis or other activities allowing students to engage with the instructor about the content of the videos.	Instructor participates in the learning activities that accompany recorded lectures to provide additional instruction and clear up misconceptions.
Course utilizes online tools and environments that make interactions easy to use and easy to document. External platforms are reviewed and scrutinized to ensure the communication and feedback given to students can be accessed after a course concluded.	Instructor utilizes the university approved and supported technology and tools built within the course to ensure that all the instructor-student and student-student interactions are easy to use and easy to document.

Additional Resources:

• Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) Examples Links to an external site.
• Regular and Substantive Interaction in Online and Distance Learning Links to an external site. (The Ohio State University)
• The SUNY Online Course Quality Review Rubric OSCQR Links to an external site.

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References:

1. Cooper, M., & Swartzwelder, R. (2020, September 4). U.S. Department of Education issues new distance education and related regulations Links to an external site.. Maynard Cooper Gale. 
2. Negotiated rulemaking for higher education 2018-19 Links to an external site.. (2020, November 6). U.S. Department of Education. 
3. Poulin, R., & Davis, V. (2019, April 23).Interpreting what is required for “Regular and substantive interaction” Links to an external site.. WCET Frontiers.
4. Regular and substantive Interaction: An overview for instructors of online courses at Everett Community College. Links to an external site. (n.d.). Everett Community College. 
5. Regular and substantive interaction: Background, concerns, and guiding principle Links to an external site.. (2018, November 30). 
6. U.S. Department of Education issues final rules on distance education and innovation | NC-SARA. Links to an external site.(2020, October 1). NC-SARANC-SARA.

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