Abstract
This study was a descriptive-correlational study. It was designed for exploring relationship
between student satisfaction and academic achievement of distance learners. The study was
delimited to the learners of Master of Education (M.Ed) program at Allama Iqbal Open
University Islamabad in core courses of Foundation of Education, Educational Research,
Curriculum development and Instruction, and Education Psychology. Stratified random
sample of 351 students was selected from the four provinces of Pakistan. Satisfaction of
distance learners were measured by Student Satisfaction Survey developed by Strachota
(2006). Major findings suggested that majority of the students were generally satisfied with
learner-learner interaction, learner content interaction followed by learner technology
interaction, and learner instructor interaction. Learner-content interaction and LearnerInstructor interaction were significant predictors of general satisfaction while Learner-learner
interaction and Learner-technology interaction were not significant predictors of general
satisfaction. Students’ satisfaction and achievement were not significantly correlated. The
study recommends improved student-teachers and student-student interaction and suggests
arranging orientation- workshops regarding the distance learning programmes. Future
studies may be conducted to reach a conclusive outcome. This study may be replicated using
procedures that allow a higher degree of randomization with other programs and settings.
