Troublesome Knowledge: Identifying Barriers To Innovate For Breakthroughs In Learning To Teach Online

Authors

  • Lorna Stephanie Gonzalez California State University, Channel Islands http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7453-8677
  • Christopher Salem Ozuna University of California Santa Barbara; California State University Channel Islands

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v25i3.2641

Keywords:

online teaching, troublesome knowledge, faculty development, online teaching preparation

Abstract

Embedded within advice for starting simple with online, blended, or technology-enhanced teaching are practices that can be troublesome for some faculty who are learning to teach this way. For example, embedded within the principle of a clear, organized, navigable course can be the concept of chunking content into modules, the skills associated with screen casting and posting a course tour, and the practice of socializing students to the course organization through demonstration, explanation, and reinforcement. This empirical-qualitative study collected 123 cases of troublesome knowledge from 41 participants and analyzed them through Perkins’ troublesome knowledge framework. Results include subcategories and common themes across cases of inert, ritual, conceptually difficult, tacit, and foreign/alien knowledge. From these results, we recommend that faculty development approaches should take specific aspects and cases of troublesome knowledge into consideration for online teaching preparation.

Author Biographies

Lorna Stephanie Gonzalez, California State University, Channel Islands

Lorna Gonzalez, Ph.D., is the Interim Assistant Director of Innovation and Faculty Development at California State University Channel Islands. Her research examines learning design and innovation, as well as multiliterate practices. Her professional writings examine equity in representation in educational development.

Christopher Salem Ozuna, University of California Santa Barbara; California State University Channel Islands

Christopher Ozuna is a Learning Design Consultant at California State University Channel Islands and a doctoral candidate at University of California Santa Barbara, where he studies: Impacts of community policies on K-12 schools, QuantitativeMethods & GIS, Critical RaceTheory, & Social Justice.

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Published

2021-09-01

Issue

Section

2021 OLC Conference Special Issue