Instructional Support and Student Success in Online Math Education

This poster presents findings from a study examining how perceived instructional support from instructors and teaching assistants or undergraduate learning assistants influences students’ progress confidence in an entry-level online math course, and how math anxiety mediates this relationship. Using survey data from nearly 700 students in MTH101, a fully asynchronous quantitative literacy course, we applied a structural equation model to test both direct and indirect effects. Results show that instructor support not only directly enhances confidence but also indirectly does so by reducing math anxiety, while TA/ULA support primarily affects confidence through a direct pathway. The poster also highlights how the course’s team-based design—with instructors, TAs, and ULAs working together—creates a supportive online learning environment. Based on these findings, we propose strategies to strengthen instructor presence, empower TA/ULAs, and explicitly address math anxiety in online math education.