Relationships among class climate, students' internal help‐seeking inclinations, participation in peer help and achievement in an online class

Abstract Help seeking has traditionally been studied in face‐to‐face settings using self‐report instruments measuring learners' internal inclinations for help seeking (eg, perceived benefits and threats). Much less is known about help seeking in online learning. Furthermore, external environmental factors such as a positive climate were found to encourage help seeking. Utilizing peer‐help analytics as well as self‐report measures, this study simultaneously modelled the structural relationships among students' perceived class climate, internal help‐seeking inclinations, help‐seeking engagement, participation in peer help and performance in an online class. Results from structural equation modelling indicated that students' perceived goal structure of an online class had a significant influence on their internal help‐seeking inclinations, which subsequently affected their help‐seeking engagement, participation in peer help and learning outcomes. Instructors of online classes should pay particular attention to fostering a mastery‐oriented climate in order to encourage help seeking and improve academic performance. Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic Help seeking is important for academic success. Due to a variety of individual and contextual factors, students often do not seek help despite the need. Existing research on help seeking focuses on the face‐to‐face setting and relies on self‐report measures. Students' help‐seeking inclinations and patterns may differ between in‐person classes and the online environment. What this paper adds This study examined help seeking in an online class through self‐report measures and objective analytics data. This study modelled the structural relationships among the external climate of an online class, students' internal help‐seeking inclinations, engagement in help seeking, participation in peer help and course performance. Structural equation modelling found that the goal structure of an online class influenced students' internal help‐seeking inclinations. Online students' internal help‐seeking inclinations affected their grades through their participation in help seeking. Implications for practice and/or policy A mastery‐oriented class climate elicits online learners' positive help‐seeking inclinations while discouraging negative ones. The design and teaching of online classes should aim to foster a mastery‐oriented climate. Online classes should offer peer‐help opportunities and encourage student participation, which is conducive to academic performance.