The effect of college students self-directed learning strategies on academic satisfaction in untact learning environment: Focusing on professor-student interaction and cognitive presense

Objectives The purpose of this study is to understand the structural role of professor-student interaction and cognitive presence in the relationship between self-directed learning strategies and academic satisfaction of university students who took full online classes in the context of untact learning environment during the semester caused by COVID-19. Methods To this end, data were collected from a total of 400 students, 100 students per grade, who participated in untact lectures at H University in Gyeongsangbuk-do. For data analysis, basic statistics, correlation analysis, and double mediation analysis were conducted using SPSS 21.0 and SPSS Process Macro 3.0. Results The results of this study are as follows. First, as a result of examining the relationship between major variables, it was found that there were significant positive correlations between self-directed learning strategies, professor-student interactions, cognitive presense, and academic satisfaction. Second, in an untact learning environment, it was found that professor-student interaction and cognitive presence sequentially mediate the relationship between self-directed learning strategies and academic satisfaction. This means that the higher the self-directed learning strategy, the higher the professor-student interaction, the higher the cognitive realism, and the higher the academic satisfaction. Conclusions If untact learning is prolonged, an environment that can improve self-directed learning should be provided to increase students academic satisfaction, and instructors’ efforts inside and outside classess are needed to increase professor-student interaction. Also, preparations at the university level should be prepared so that student’s practical learning should be advanced.