


































Frontiers of Contemporary Education 
ISSN 2690-3520 (Print) ISSN 2690-3539 (Online) 

Vol. 4, No. 2, 2023 

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1 
 

Short Paper 

Student Reactions to Announcements-Auditory and Visual 

(Email) 

Michael F Shaughnessy
1
 

1
 Yetta Massey, Mark Viner, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, New Mexico 88130 

 

Received: March 25, 2023        Accepted: April 3, 2023      Online Published: April 20, 2023 

doi:10.22158/fce.v4n2p1                  URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.22158/fce.v4n2p1 

 

Abstract 

For some instructors in some classes, it is difficult to engage students, prompt students to participate in 

Discussion Board and submit work on time. The present study utilized a counterbalanced study to 

explore the issue of announcements, prompts and supportive reminders with undergraduates and 

graduate students. Results of this preliminary study are provided and discussed. 

Keywords 

online learning, auditory prompts, Email reminder and spaces in the appendix between each week 

 

Online education has become a permanent part of higher education and even secondary education in 

America and around the world. Yet some faculty report difficulty in terms of procuring consistent 

student involvement in online classes. It is perplexing and exasperating to faculty when students 

participate minimally, or discontinue their work only to re-appear shortly before grades are due and 

then there are other students who “vanish” from the course- never to be heard from again. Some 

students report this as the “ghosting” phenomenon. Instructors should be encouraging students to 

contact the instructor for any emergency-surgery, death in the family, hospitalization, car accident and 

the like. Some students may need more assistance in certain areas- for example, writing, grammar, 

punctuation, sentence structure and thus communication is imperative- if nothing else to refer them to 

the appropriate resources on campus. In the current zeitgeist-it may be that students are simply less 

aware of deadlines or there is a diminished seriousness of purpose. Some students may simply be 

overwhelmed or taking too many classes and may prioritize their time differently.  

In the past, Huang (2021) attempted to address what he termed procrastination in Massive Online Open 

Courses via “optimal calls to action”. Jabeen (2015) looked at weekly announcements to try to assist 

students in sociology courses. Mathieson and Leafman (2014) looked at the construct of “social 

presence” as a factor in online classes and examined this construct both from the student and instructor 



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perspective. It is not clear what exactly “social presence” is and how it can be measured and what it’s 

impact is. Certainly many instructors provide a picture, a brief bio, perhaps a joke or funny story or 

two- but the construct of social presence and how it helps or hinders student involvement and success 

in an online class remains to be seen and investigated. This study also examined students and faculty’s 

feelings about the requirement of having to socialize online in the Discussion Board or coffee shop or 

provide feedback to each other.  

In order to address some of the above concerns the first two authors established a series of encouraging, 

cordial, congenial reminders which were sent each Monday of an 8 week class to their students. These 

were counterbalanced- auditory then written via email. At the end of each course students were asked 

to complete a Qualtrics survey and respond to some factual questions. The reminders can be found in 

the appendix in Table 1. 

 

Subjects 

There were 8 males, and 25 females for a total of 33 subjects. In terms of grade level, there was one 

freshman, 1 sophomore, 2 juniors 6 seniors and 23 graduate students responding. 

Some foundational questions were: 

Do you prefer online, face to face or hybrid? 

Online                51.00% n=17 

Face to Face     24.24 % n=8  

Hybrid.               24.24% n=8 

How often do you check your school e-mail? 

Every Day—22 

Every other day—10 

Every third day—1 

Every fourth day—1 

Every fifth day—0 

On a scale of 1—5—How Helpful is Instructor Feedback? 

Very Important—81%. N=26 

Important—9.38% n=3 

Neutral—3.13 n=1 

Somewhat important. 6.25% n=2 

Not at all important. 0 

My preference for Instructor Feedback is: 

Email:   46.88 n=5 

Zoom:     6.25 n=2 

Discussion Board. 3.13 n=1 

Canvas Feedback Box—43.75% n=14 



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If I am happy with my grade, I ignore Feedback info—9% 

The Announcement Board is considered by me to be: 

Very Important. 25.005 n=8 

Important. 56.25% n=18 

Neutral 8.75% n=6 

Slightly Important 0 

Not at all Important 0 

How important is Immediate Feedback or responses in Announcements 

Very Important—22.58% n=7 

Important. 58.06% n=18 

Neutral. 9.68% n-3 

Slightly Important.  6.455. n=2 

Not at all important.  3.23%. n=1 

Receiving Announcements on my cell phone is: 

Very Important. 16.13 n=5 

Important- 48.39 n=15 

Neutral. 19.35% n=6 

Slightly Important. 12.90% n=4 

Not at all Important. 3.23% n=1 

In terms of communication I prefer: 

Announcements. 22.58% n=7 

Verbal Communications 3.23% n=1 

Email. 74.19% n= 23 

I do not check my communications regularly. 0% 

In terms of instructor reminders, I find both Announcements ad Verbal Reminders: 

Very Important. 38.71% n=12 

Important-54.84% n=17 

Neutral. 6.4%. n=26 

Slightly Important. 0% n=0 

Not at all Important. 0% n=0 

How helpful are Announcements that are encouraging? 

Very Important. 51.61% n=16 

Important-37.81% n=12 

Neutral. 9.68% n=3 

Slightly Important. 0% n=0 

Not at all Important. 0% n=0 

How helpful are Announcements stating deadlines? 



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Very Important. 70.97% n=22 

Important-19.35% n=6 

Neutral. 6.45% n=2 

Slightly Important. 3.23% n=1 

Not at all Important. 0% n=0 

What type of voice do you prefer for audio feedback? 

Male: 0.00% 

Female 0.00% 

No Preference. 100% N=31 

2 no response 

In terms of qualitative research one question was asked in an open-ended fashion-What do you see as 

the factors that contribute to your success in online classes? (Twenty two of the subjects chose to 

respond)  

1) Canvas app on my phone 

2) Responsive Feedback 

3) Flexibility 

4) Feedback and Feedback via Zoom 

5) Timely and Useful Feedback /Strong Feedback 

6) Constant Reminders /Clear Syllabus/ Consistent Feedback 

7) Instructor Response ASAP 

 

Summary and Conclusions 

This is a very preliminary exploratory study examining the impact of verbal and email reminders to 

students given on a weekly basis. Much more research needs to be conducted in order to fine the 

optimal factors that assist in the completion of online classes,  

 

References 

Huang, N., Zhang, J., Burtch, G., Li, X., & Chen, P. (2021). Combating Procrastination on Massive 

Online Open Courses via Optimal Calls to Action. Information Systems Research, 32(2), 301-317. 

https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2020.0974 

Jabeen, S. (2015). Perceived effectiveness of weekly announcements in provision of learning support to 

sociology students. European Journal of Open, Distance and E-Learning, 18(1).  

Kimbrel, L. A., & Gantner, M. W. (2021). Student Perceptions of Instructor Made Videos with Quizzes 

in an Asynchronous Online Course. International Journal of Educational Leadership Preparation, 

16(1), 24-44. 

Mathieson,K., & Leafman, J. S. (2014). Comparison of student and instructor perceptions of Social 

Presence. Journal of Educators online, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.9743/JEO.2014.2.3  

https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2020.0974
https://doi.org/10.9743/JEO.2014.2.3


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Published by SCHOLINK INC. 

Appendix 

First Week Announcement 

Welcome to this course. We hope that you will find it engaging and exciting and enthusiastic. Please 

review the syllabus carefully and please note the deadlines and let me know if you have any 

questions-you can contact me via email and I would be happy to respond. I hope you have procured the 

text and have begun reading. 

Second Week-Presented Auditorially 

By now, you should have begun reading and begun doing the assignments as indicated in the syllabus. 

We do hope that things are progressing well and that you are enjoying the reading and the requirements. 

Each week you will receive a brief reminder as to deadlines and requirements and a prompt to contact 

us for questions or concerns. 

Third Week-On Announcements 

By now you should have established a great routine and have been checking the requirements, 

navigating around Canvas and seeking assistance when needed. Since this is an 8 week class, time 

management is imperative and deadlines are important. 

Fourth Week-Presented Auditorially 

At this point, the class is almost half over. All students should be very careful of time management of 

the requirements and the deadlines. We realize that some of you are working or taking other classes but 

we do want to encourage you to reflect on the amount of time left in the class. 

Fifth Week- On Announcements 

As we approach the end of the class, we hope that it has been a meaningful enjoyable experience. At 

this stage, the end is in sight and hopefully deadlines have been met and requirements have been 

addressed. Please contact the instructor with any questions or concerns. 

Sixth Week- Presented Auditorially 

Nearing the end of the course, this is a good time to reflect on what you have learned from the text, 

from the Instructor, and from others. We hope that this has been an enjoyable learning experience and 

that you have benefitted from the class. As always, contact the instructor with any concerns or 

questions. 

Seventh Week-On Announcements 

Almost at the end of the class and hopefully deadlines have been met and your expectations have also 

been met for this learning experience. This is a good time to reflect on any last minute pending 

assignments and requirements of the class and to ask any last minute questions. 

Eighth Week-Presented Auditorially 

This is the final week of the class and we hope it has been a great learning experience. We realize the 

difficulty of taking an 8 week class and we applaud your tenacity and encourage you to review the 

syllabus and look for any last minute details or requirements. Please contact the instructor for any last 

minute concerns.    


