Interrelationships Between Perceptions of Social and Teaching Presences and Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs, Persistence, Intrinsic Motivation, and Negative Emotions in Online Education

The common belief regarding the lack of interaction in online education raises some concerns about students’ psychological well-being and the satisfaction of their needs. The relations between teaching and social presences as the two major factors accounting for social-contextual conditions in online education with students' basic psychological needs satisfaction, persistence, and motivation are mostly ignored in the context of teaching English in higher education in Iraq. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to examine the interrelationships between the perception of social and teaching presences and the satisfaction of basic psychological needs, persistence, intrinsic motivation, and negative emotions of Iraqi EFL learners in online courses. To this end, ۲۰۰ intermediate Iraqi university students studying English at the English departments of several institutions of higher education were recruited to participate in the study. Then they were asked to complete self-report questionnaires on their perception of social and teaching presence, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, intention to persist, intrinsic motivation, and negative emotions. The link for questionnaires was shared among the participants via email. SEM analysis showed that the students’ perceptions of social and teaching presence had a positive relationship with their satisfaction of basic psychological needs, persistence, and intrinsic motivation. The results, however, showed that there was a negative relationship between the students’ perceptions of social and teaching presences and boredom, anxiety, and shame.  The results imply that providing opportunities for students to interact effectively with their instructors and peers in online classes in a socially supportive environment can lead to positive outcomes. The implications for online teaching and learning are discussed, and suggestions for further research are proposed.

Keywords:

intrinsic motivation , negative emotions , persistence to learning , satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy , relatedness , and competence , teaching presence and social presence , intrinsic motivation , negative emotions , persistence to learning , satisfaction of basic psychological needs for autonomy , relatedness , and competence , teaching presence and social presence