Purposeful interpersonal interaction and the point of diminishing returns for graduate learners

Social constructivist based course designs in online learning are emphasized in higher education as a way to highlight and capitalize on the benefits of interpersonal interaction. Course designers have generally taken a “more is better” approach to interpersonal interaction; however, some evidence points to a point of diminishing returns for interpersonal interaction. Purposeful interpersonal interaction (PII) is a framework for identifying high quality interpersonal interactions which are demonstrated to lead to better student outcomes. This study attempted to shed insight on how PII relates to student satisfaction and perceived learning in asynchronous environments by comparing courses in two graduate business programs. Results demonstrated that greater PII does generally lead to greater student satisfaction and perceived learning. Comparison of the programs also revealed that similar levels of satisfaction and learning can be achieved despite lesser levels of PII, giving evidence of a point of diminishing returns.