This study examined the relationship between students’ perceptions of interaction, gender, age and students’ satisfaction with course and students’ grades. The data were collected using a Web-based survey from 65 students enrolled in an online humanities course in a Midwestern community college. Multiple regression analysis was used to analyze data. Results indicated that neither perceived personal interaction (participation) nor age accounted for a significant amount of variation in the dependent variable, satisfaction with the course. The most important predictor of students’ satisfaction was perceptions of overall interaction, followed by gender. The regression model with the two predictors was significant. Male students who perceived the overall interaction in the course to be high were more satisfied with the course. No significant correlations were found between perceptions of interaction and course grades. Gender and age were not significantly correlated with course grades. The regression model with four predictors, perceptions of personal and overall interaction, gender, and age, was not significant. The key predictor of students’ satisfaction with the course was not the extent to which students participated in the interaction that was occurring in the course, but rather their perception that there was much interaction in the course. This relationship between perceived overall class interaction and course satisfaction serves as an indicator of “vicarious learning,” or learning that takes place when a student actively observes and benefits from interaction among the other students, or between students and the instructor. Students who would not initiate interaction on their own can still learn from observing class interactions.