Interactivity, Social Constructivism, and Satisfaction with Distance Learning Among Infantry Soldiers

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine what relationships, if any, exist among interactivity, social constructivism, and satisfaction with distance learning in the target population of U. S. Army Infantry soldiers participating in college distance learning (DL) courses. It also provides data on relationships between soldiers’ satisfaction with DL and demographic characteristics such as military rank, educational level, major field of study, subject areas in which DL courses had been completed, prior experience, computer and Internet expertise, and media used for course interaction.

Using a convenience sample of 131 Infantry soldiers at Fort Benning, Georgia, statistically significant relationships were found between satisfaction with DL and the variables of interactivity, social constructivist characteristics or outcomes, and some of the demographics. Specifically, the demographics for which statistically significant relationships were found with DL satisfaction were prior experience with web-based learning, computer and Internet expertise, and number of media used for student-instructor interaction. These findings support the use of highly interactive social constructivist instructional approaches in computer-mediated and other learning environments.