The Experience of Teaching Online: Its Impact on Faculty Professional Development and Innovation
Open Access
- Author:
- Kearns, Lorna Richey
- Graduate Program:
- Adult Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- November 18, 2014
- Committee Members:
- Melody M Thompson, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Melody M Thompson, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Gary Kuhne, Committee Member
Lawrence Christopher Ragan, Committee Member
Priya Sharma, Committee Member - Keywords:
- online learning
online teaching
faculty development
teaching innovation
teaching in higher education - Abstract:
- As traditional colleges and universities increasingly incorporate online learning programs into their curriculum, it is important to understand the benefits that may accrue to the faculty who teach in those programs, particularly those that influence instructors’ continuing participation in face-to-face teaching. This study investigated how the experience of teaching online influenced instructors’ assumptions about effective teaching and their face-to-face teaching practices. The purpose was to provide a greater understanding of how this experience may contribute to faculty conceptions of teaching, classroom practices, and professional growth. The study used a survey and interviews to collect qualitative data from instructors who taught both online and face-to-face in a traditional face-to-face institution. Data were analyzed using a hermeneutical phenomenology approach. Six overarching themes emerged: 1) Reflecting on Practice, 2) Creating Structure, 3) Promoting Active Learning, 4) Encouraging Peer Interaction, 5) Establishing a Connection, and 6) Conducting the Class. Reflecting on Practice occurs when instructors question themselves about their teaching goals and objectives. Creating Structure refers to course planning and designing. Promoting Active Learning reflects instructors’ ongoing consideration of how to promote deep student engagement with course content. Encouraging Peer Interaction focuses on creating opportunities for students to interact with one another as a means of social learning. Establishing a Connection describes instructors’ attempts to connect personally with students. Conducting the Class refers to the ongoing consideration of maximizing class time for student learning. Three meta-themes were introduced to explain additional influences on the change processes described by the research participants. These were 1) affordances in technology and media, 2) permeability of the boundary between in-class and out-of-class learning activities, and 3) a shift in focus from teaching to learning. A model showing thematic relationships is proposed that draws on a framework for teacher thinking developed by McAlpine, Weston, Berthiaume, and Fairbank-Roch (2006) and Moore’s (1989) levels of interaction. The process by which instructors make changes to their face-to-face teaching practice is described with reference to Kolb’s (1989) experiential learning cycle. It incorporates elements from Mezirow’s (1991) levels of reflection, Kreber and Cranton’s (2000) domains of teaching, and Salomon and Perkins’s (1989) learning transfer theory.