RSI is Required for Online and Partially Online Courses

The United States Department of Education requires the delivery of fully and partially online courses (i.e. blended, virtual, hybrid, hyflex) to incorporate regular, substantive instructor interaction (RSI) with students. 

What does RSI Mean?

RSI means that the faculty member is directly engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment.

In an online course, regular communication occurs at frequent intervals throughout the semester. It cannot be optional nor solely at the initiation of a student. If contact is initiated by an automated solution or staff not qualified as faculty, students must still have ready access to faculty.

Substantive communication is instructor-initiated contact with students that creates opportunities for relevant discussion of academic topics or scaffolded support. This can include direct instruction, substantive feedback to assessments, or contacts with students that create the opportunity for relevant discussion of the academic subject matter.

Student interactions with technologies that do not involve an instructor, such as automatically graded assessments or interactive materials provided by a textbook publisher, do not count as RSI! Online and partially online instruction that does not incorporate RSI is NOT online learning. Such courses are correspondence courses, which do not qualify for financial aid! See our guide Who's Teaching My Online Class for clarification.

What are the Requirements for RSI at MATC?

The following evidence of RSI in online and partially online sections must be present in the Blackboard Shell for each week of instruction.

Required - Three (3) Passive Strategies:

1. Weekly class announcements personalized for the section and needs of the students

2. Regular Student Support Hours- The course syllabus contains the meeting schedule and meeting room link or location.

3. Graded assessment/s with constructive feedback, graded in a timely manner.

Required - Your Choice of Two (2) Active Strategies:

• Active facilitation of group discussions, providing constructive comments or feedback to engage learning through discourse.

• Live lecture or presentation meetings (direct instruction) through video conferencing.

• Recorded lecture videos directly paired with formative or summative assessment activities that create opportunities for instructor-student interaction.

• Weekly in-person meetings (applies to blended, hybrid, virtual modalities).

Tips for Demonstrating RSI In an Online Course

Suggestions for Faculty Designing RSI Compliant Online Courses

A Checklist for Planning and Demonstrating RSI