RSI – What does that mean?

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Acronyms are pretty prevalent across the synod and our campus. LES? Lutheran Elementary School. ALHS? Area Lutheran High School. BIC? Bible Information Class. DP? District President.

As we build our CBE (competency-based education) programming at MLC (Martin Luther College), we are adding a few new acronyms to our WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) vocabulary.

You may have heard our instructional designer or director refer to RSI. What is RSI?

RSI stands for Regular and Substantive Interaction. RSI reflects the faculty’s commitment to supporting online learners. Thus, RSI is not exclusively connected to CBE courses but to all courses offered online at MLC.

Each element of RSI has specific definitions and expectations.

Regular interaction between students and their instructor in online instruction must be intentionally planned and initiated by the instructor. Regular interaction includes meeting with learners virtually or in person and tracking a learner’s performance and progress in an online course to provide timely interventions to support their learning.

Substantive interaction is more prescriptive. Substantive interaction involves engaging students in teaching, learning, and assessment activities consistent with the content under discussion that include at least two of the following:

  • Providing direct instruction (synchronous only);
  • Assessing or giving feedback on a student’s coursework;
  • Providing information or responding to questions about the content of a course or competency;
  • Facilitating a group discussion regarding the content of a course or competency and/or
  • Other instructional activities as approved by the institutional or programmatic accrediting agency.

Regular and substantive work together to ensure our learners have a robust learning experience that our faculty intentionally supports.