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Introduction
Online instruction is no longer a new phenomenon in higher education institutions. Research indicates that many higher education institutions view online learning as an integral and necessary mode of delivery (Berg, 2002; Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, 2006; Natriello, 2005; Tabatabaei, Schrottner, & Reichgelt, 2006) with conveniences including increased access, fast delivery, potentially improved pedagogy, and decreased costs for both students and institutions. With higher education institutions heavily adopting and investing in this delivery modality, several potential challenges arise for instructors trying to establish conditions to enhance the students' learning experiences (Brinkerhoff & Koroghlanian, 2007; Durrington, Berryhill, & Swafford, 2006; Natriello, 2005). One of the issues that instructors wrestle with is the optimal level of engagement in their online courses. After developing course materials and making them available to students, some instructors may adopt a minimalist approach. For example, they may not participate in students' discussions, may only respond to student inquiries rather than ever initiating contact, and may never review course materials to make formative revisions. At the other end of the spectrum, instructors may be highly engaged in the course both before and during course delivery by developing learning materials and activities that promote high levels of cognitive engagement, providing students with in-depth feedback for growth and development, exchanging ideas in student discussions, and continually challenging students to deepen their thinking. These strategies are just a few of the ways that instructors make their presence known in online courses. Other indicators of an instructor's presence during the setup and development of an online course include the way the course is designed and the way the course is organized (Garrison, Anderson, & Archer, 2000). Indicators of the instructor's presence during the delivery of an online course include his or her communication with students both within and outside of content discussions, the sharing of information related to the students' professional interests and goals, and efforts to establish and maintain a sense of community among students (Garrison et al., 2000; Palloff & Pratt, 2003).
Many of these strategies are implicit in researchers' conceptualizations of teaching presence in online courses and have also been shown to relate to students' success or satisfaction in online courses (Garrison & Cleveland-Innes, 2005; Hong, Lai, & Holton, 2003; Shea &...