Faculty Perceptions Related to Teaching Online: A Starting Point for Designing Faculty Development Initiatives

Abstract

To design and deliver meaningful professional development programs for faculty who teach online, the unit responsible for these activities should have a clear idea of what content participants might find most beneficial to their practice, as well as what can improve instructor and student satisfaction. Using an online survey, this study explored the perceptions of 314 faculty members at a mid-southern university as they relate to the online environment and institutional factors, personal factors, and student engagement and active learning. Faculty reported high levels of satisfaction with the accessibility of their courses and the technical support they receive, but reported lower levels of satisfaction with the effectiveness of online communication tools. The results also revealed a significant difference in how faculty rated their satisfaction with student engagement and active learning based on their level of experience, indicating that alternative approaches to faculty development might be necessary for those new to online teaching and learning.

The Effectiveness of Professional Development in Overcoming Obstacles to Effective Online Instruction in a College of Education

“…Online professional development programs that model high-quality online teaching and learning offer an effective and efficient environment for instructors to update their skills and beliefs (Gachago et al, 2017;Walters et al, 2017). Based on our findings, it is important to design a program that matches the learning formats, topics, and technological resources available to those who will enroll.…”

“…These hands-on application experiences make them relevant and authentic to their own teaching (Gosselin et al, 2016;Johnson, Wismiewski, Kuhlemeyer, Isaacs, & Krzykowski, 2012). They also provide secure space to explore the technology and experience satisfaction with its affordances, while observing best practices implemented by the instructor (Walters, Grover, Turner, & Alexander, 2017). The combination of observation and active process of doing is an important component when preparing online instructors and advocates (Gachago et al, 2017).…”

“…Professional development can also be provided as boot camps, seminar series, minicourses, webinars, hands-on workshops, peer training, or meetings with experts (Gosselin et al, 2016;Johnson et al, 2012;Meyer & Murrell, 2014;Reilly, Vandenhouten, Gallagher-Lepak, & Berg, 2012;Roby, Ashe, Singh, & Clark, 2013;Signer, 2008;Wang, 2007). These professional development opportunities can be more meaningful if they are designed based on the content that participants find applicable and useful (Walters et al, 2017). Some researchers also support the idea of individualized and customized training (McQuiggan, 2012;Rhode, Richter, & Miller, 2017;Wingo, Peters, Ivankova, & Gurley, 2016), while others emphasize the importance of regularly scheduled, standardized trainings (Meyer & Murrell, 2014).…”

Formulating a Need-Based Faculty Development Model for Medical Schools in Indonesia

“…Eight studies implied an extended definition of faculty development that was not only developing teaching skills but also personal and professional skills as a teacher, clinician, researcher and administrator relevant to the vision and mission of the institution. Most studies stated that to prepare comprehensive and effective faculty development, a needs analysis is required, for example, in relation to teaching clinical skills, the latest teaching and assessing methods (19), technology in teaching (20, 21), appropriate teaching methods for current student generation and online teaching (22, 23, 24). Faculty development also needed training on publications, managing time for research and writing a manuscript (8, 18, 20).…”

“…Approaches and types of faculty development activities can be divided into three categories: (i) independent learning, which was conducted in nearly 50% of the whole faculty development activities, especially in improving pedagogic skills (7, 19, 20, 23, 25); (ii) formal professional development programmes dominated by continuing education programmes, seminars and workshops (19, 20, 24); and (iii) organisational development strategies to improve organisation quality, such as curriculum development towards online learning, development of faculty development programmes across institutions, online-based faculty development and innovations in professional development models (18, 23, 26).…”