Regular and Substantive Interaction at UM
U.S. Department of Education regulations went into effect on July 1, 2021 to distinguish distance education from correspondence courses, which have financial aid restrictions. The main difference between these two modalities is that a distance education course requires Regular and Substantive Interaction (RSI) between the instructor and the students. The information below defines Regular and Substantive Interaction.
Check out this Tip Sheet for strategies to improve teacher-student interaction in your distance education course(s).
What is Regular and Substantive Interaction?
The U.S. Department of Education describes regular interaction as occurring "on a predictable and scheduled basis commensurate with the length of time and the amount of content in the course or competency."
Substantive interaction is defined as "engaging with students in teaching, learning and assessment consistent with the content under discussion." At least two of the following criteria must also be present for interaction to be considered substantive:
- Providing direct instruction;
- Assessing or providing feedback on a student's coursework;
- Providing information on responding to questions about the content of a course or competency;
- Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency or;
- Other instructional activities approved by the institution's or program's accrediting agency.
Main Takeaway: Instructors should initiate predictable and scheduled interaction with their students; this interaction should be relevant to the course and involve teaching and assessment.