George washington university michael corry george washington university an intervention is a counseling action an instructor may use to support a student who struggles to work productively in an online writing instruction owi course. Interventions may increase retention and graduation rates at institutions as well as increase student and teacher satisfaction allen, bourhis, burrell, and mabry, 2002 archambault and crippen, 2009 mccombs, ufnar, and shepherd, 2007 o'dwyer, carey, and kleiman, 2007 stein, wanstreet, calvin, overtoom, and wheaton, 2005 sun, tsai, finger, chen, and yeh, 2008. In moore's 1993 theory of transaction distance, interventions are called advice and counsel, and they are a crucial component of the program structure element in the theory. Many researchers recommend early identification and intervention for struggling students archambault et al. For example, simpson 2004 found that early interventions following keller's 1987 arcs model attention, relevance, confidence and satisfaction were effective in helping students complete a course. In addition, simpson found that such interventions could be cost effective however, there are many open variables when calculating cost.

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As researchers and online instructors, the authors recommend early intervention activities performed by email and text messaging at many opportunistic intervention points during the course of the instruction. As well, developing an intervention strategy prior to course beginning to assist in planning and preparation is advocated and recommended. Research about online students reveals that different types of students perform differently in online classes some students need more support than others to be successful. Equal access to education opportunities and successes is one of sloan's five pillars of online success, and it is a major concern for educators nationwide hewett et al. Students who struggle with online learning must have access to support and opportunities to develop the skills necessary to be successful in online classes. A reconsideration of moore's theory of transactional distance 1993 with specific regard to the program structure element where moore discusses advice and counsel is a foundational platform from which to suggest successful intervention strategies instructors can implement to help writers who are struggling in online writing instruction owi courses.

Interventions can be cost effective and increase student and teacher satisfaction. studying student success in online writing instruction researchers attribute student success in online courses to a wide range of varying characteristics and circumstances such as academic subject, student personality traits, student/instructor experience, and many others. However, even students with variables in their favor occasionally struggle in online writing instruction owi courses, and the instructor is challenged to intervene and facilitate success. Students who need more instructor support may express this need in a variety of ways including missed deadlines and class meetings, hesitation in becoming engaged in online interactions, and failed assignments or exams.

Department of education defines an at risk student as one who is likely to fail at school archambault et al. Lack of engagement can cause a student to become at risk for failing an online writing course however, it is just as likely that there are other reasons a student could be at risk for failing to complete a course. As such, researchers widely agree that there is no such thing as a typical at risk learner archambault et al. general characteristics of owi instruction most scholars agree that more research needs to be done about whether some academic subjects are easier to learn through online instruction dipietro, ferdig, black, and preston, 2008 o'dwyer, carey, and kleiman, 2007. Additionally, instructors will benefit from an understanding of where owi is situated in a continuum of academic subjects taught online. Learning to write effectively is a crucial skill in the 21st century workplace, and the dramatic increase in online learning options finds owi has grown in popularity and necessity the sloan consortium, 2011 u.s. Online writing instruction shares many features with other online course subjects mdash it makes use of technology, reading, discussions, lectures, and group work.

However, because writing is a social, recursive, and generative process hewett et al. 2011 , a key aspect of writing is thinking creswell, 2009 , and facilitating thinking is a complex teaching endeavor whether it takes place in a face to face or an online environment. student and instructor success with owi particular types of students have been shown to be more responsive to complex teaching methods and thus, may be more effective in online classes. In general, students who are self directed, independent, and mature do well in online courses including owi courses dickson, 2005 rice, 2006 roblyer, 2005 ronsisvalle and watkins, 2005 smith, clark, and blomeyer, 2005 sun, tsai, finger, chen, and yeh, 2008. Student and instructor experience with online learning can affect successful completion of online courses, including owi. As helpful as is student experience in online learning, instructor experience is even more helpful.

In fact, ronsisvalle and watkins 2005 , in their comprehensive overview of distance education literature noted that experience as an online instructor is correlated with a higher retention rate in students. As noted by many researchers, online instruction is not a simple relocation of resources from paper to digital formats. Online instruction is an entirely different way of teaching and learning cavanaugh, barbour, and clark, 2009 dipietro et al. For example, an owi instructor may lecture briefly while showing pictures and slides for students to reference, but the instructor does not have the opportunity to scan a group of faces and determine who needs more information. Instead, the instructor must engage students in other digital only ways to take the emotional temperature hardiman, 2012, pg.

45 of the class and increase interaction with the students, such as the anonymous poll in figure one or other methods. Prior experience with online learning helps students know what to expect, and it helps teachers understand how to engage owi students to facilitate successful completion of a course. The ability to engage online students in owi supports the success and retention of all students, especially at risk students archambault et al. Engagement can be achieved through interaction and intervention at strategic opportunities as a course proceeds. Interaction and strategic intervention are skills an online instructor may facilitate or use in an effort to provide an exemplary online course experience. As such, in an effort to describe the exemplary online educator, edwards, perry, and janzen 2011 studied nursing and healthcare graduate students using narrative inquiry in an effort to understand, via storytelling, what qualities the students found in exemplary online teachers. The three themes that emerged closely follow a communities of inquiry model of cognitive presence, teaching presence and social presence.

The findings conclude with a description of the exemplary online educator summarized below. Embedded in the description of an exemplary online educator are instructor actions that embody engagement through interaction and intervention: exemplary teachers challenge learners. They challenge learners with questions of validity, and require them to back their claims with evidence. These teachers provide feedback, which motivates the student to higher achievement. Exemplary teachers affirm student effort with encouragement and a valuation of the individual. An exemplary teacher also watches for and addresses difficulties students may have in processing material. In addition, affirmation behavior increases the student's self efficacy, locus of control, and ability to self affirm.

The teacher may also show affirmation by setting a climate of respect in the classroom. Exemplary teachers let students know they care about their progress in the course as well as their personal well being. As can be seen, the common theme in these descriptions is engagement, interaction, and strategic intervention with learners. Indeed, interacting with students to engage them in learning is widely recognized as a necessary skill in online teaching. Another way interaction can be facilitated is with a supportive class structure including online chats, group projects, multi media presentations, or other technological mediations, which recognize that the structure of an online class is important to student satisfaction with the learning. Additionally, students may have different structural needs, and this means that the course and syllabus must be somewhat fluid in order to use structure to achieve the best results stein, wanstreet, calvin, overtoom, and wheaton, 2005. Student success in online courses can be attributed to a wide range of varying characteristics and circumstances such as course content, student personality traits, student experience, instructor experience, and many others.

Overall, instructors may a ensure curriculum is relevant to student career or degree plans, b determine prior to the class beginning which students do not have experience with online learning, and c encourage open communication and interaction to engage students in the learning process d strategically intervene as needed to guide students to successful course completion. assisting struggling students because at risk learners vary widely in their personal or educational issues, researchers advocate early identification and intervention to assist struggling students archambault et al. Recommend identifying assessment and prediction tools, models, and instruments used to remediate student knowledge, skills, and abilities to ensure success in distance learning.