Supporting Online Faculty through a Sense of Community and Collegiality

Authors

  • Aimee LaPointe Terosky Saint Joseph's University
  • Chris Heasley Drexel University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24059/olj.v19i3.473

Keywords:

Online faculty, sense of community, collegiality, professional development

Abstract

In this qualitative study, we examine the experiences of seven tenure-track and non-tenure track current/future online faculty through the conceptual lenses of sense of community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986) and collegiality (Gappa, Austin, & Trice, 2007). We found: (1) participants reported that their sense of community and collegiality around online course development and teaching was lacking, (2) participants’ communities for online teaching, if available, primarily focused on technical support, and (3) participants desired greater community and collegiality for philosophical and psychological concerns with the medium of online teaching. We conclude with recommendations for practice for online faculty professional growth.

Author Biographies

Aimee LaPointe Terosky, Saint Joseph's University

Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership

Chris Heasley, Drexel University

Executive Director, University Housing

References

Allen, I.E. & Seaman, J. (2010). Class differences: Online education in the United States, 2010. Needham, MA: Babson Survey Research Group.

Allen, I. E. & Seaman, J. (2011). Online education in the United States 2011: Going the distance. Newburyport, MA: Sloan Consortium.

Allen, I. E. & Seaman, J. (2013). Changing Course: Ten Years of Tracking Online Education in the United States. Newburyport, MA: Sloan Consortium.

Brown, J.S., Collins, A., & Duguid, P. (1989). Situated cognition and the culture of learning. Educational Researcher, 18(1), 32-42.

Conrad, D. (2004). University instructors’ reflections on their first online teaching experiences. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 8(2): 31-44.

Cox, M.D. (2004) Introduction to faculty learning communities. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, 97, 5-23.

Creswell, J.W. (2012). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research, 4th edition. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Dolan, V. (2011). The isolation of online adjunct faculty and its impact on their performance. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 12(2).

Dray, B.J., Lowenthal, P.R., Miszkiewicz, M.J., Ruiz-Primo, M.A., & Marczynski, K. (2011). Developing an instrument to assess student readiness for online learning: A validation study. Distance Education, 32(1), 29-47.

Erickson, F. (1985). Qualitative methods in research on teaching. In M. Wittrock (Ed.), Handbook of research on teaching, 3rd Ed. (pp. 119-161). New York, NY: Macmillan.

Fulton, K., & Riel, M. (1999). Professional development through learning communities. Edutopia, 6(2), 8-10.

Gappa, J.M., Austin, A.E., & Trice, A.G. (2007). Rethinking faculty work: Higher education’s strategic imperative. New York, NY: Nolan Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Gilbert, S. (1995). Teaching, learning and technology: The need for campus wide planning and faculty support services. Change 27(2): 46-52.

Glass, C.R. (2012). Digitally-mediated teaching and professors’ professional worlds and identities: A faculty learning and professional growth perspective. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education, Las Vegas, NV.

Glass, C.R. (forthcoming). Beyond luddites and laggards: The latent social functions that motivate professors to teach (or not teach) online.

Haber, J., & Mills, M. (2008). Perceptions of barriers concerning effective online teaching and policies: Florida community college faculty. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 32(4/6), 266-283.

Haviland, D. (2011). Pre-tenure faculty members’ experiences and expectations: Challenges, frustrations…and growth. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Association of the Study of Higher Education, Charlotte, N.C.

Helms, R.M. (2010). New challenges, new priorities: The experience of Generation X faculty. Cambridge, MA: The Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education, Harvard University Graduate School of Education.

Herman, J.H. (2012). Faculty development programs: The frequency and variety of professional development programs available to online instructors. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(5), 87-106.

Hollenshead, C., Waltman, J., August, L., Miller, J., Smith, G., & Bell, A. (2007). Making the best of both worlds: Findings from a national institution-level survey on non-tenure track faculty. Ann Arbor, MI: Center for the Education of Women.

Jaschik, S. & Lederman, D. (2013). The 2012 Inside Higher Ed survey of faculty attitudes on technology. Washington DC: Inside Higher Ed.

Kezar, A.J. (2012). Needed policies, practices, and values: Creating a culture to support and professionalize non-tenure track faculty. In A.J. Kezar (Ed.), Embracing non-tenure track faculty: Changing campuses for the new faculty majority. New York, NY: Routledge.

Kinuthia, W. (2005). Planning faculty development for successful implementation of web-based instruction. Campus-Wide Information Systems 22(4): 189-200.

Koehler, M. J., Mishra, P., Hershey, K., and Peruski, L. (2004). With a little help from your students: A new model for faculty development and online course design. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 12(1) 25-55.

Lave, J. (1997). The culture of acquisition and the practice of understanding. In D. Kirshner & J.A. Whitson (Eds.), Situated cognition: Social, semiotic, and psychological perspectives (pp. 63-82). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Lu, M., Todd, A.M., & Miller, M.T. (2011, Fall). Creating a supportive culture for online teaching: A case study of a faculty learning community. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, XIV(III).

Maier, L. (2012). What are online teaching faculty telling us about building community? Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 36(11), 884-896.

McLean, J. (2006). Forgotten faculty: Stress and job satisfaction among distance educators. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 9(2).

McMillan, D., & Chavis, D. (1986). Sense of community: A definition and theory. Journal of Community Psychology, 14(1), 6-23.

McQuiggan, C.A. (2012). Faculty development for online teaching as a catalyst for change. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(2), 27-61.

Menzies, H., & Newson, J. (2007). No Time to Think: Academics’ life in the globally wired university. Time & Society, 16(1), 83-98. doi:10.1177/0961463X07074103

Meyer, K.A. & Murrell, V.S. (2014). A national study of training content and activities for faculty development for online teaching. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 18(1), 3-18.

Neumann, A. (2009). Professing to learn: Creating tenured lives and careers in the American research university. Baltimore, MD: Nolans Hopkins University Press.

O’Meara, K., Terosky, A. L., & Neumann, A. (2008). Faculty careers and work lives: A professional growth perspective. ASHE Higher Education Report, 34(3).

Palloff, R.M. & Pratt, K. (2007). Building online learning communities. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Puzziferro, M.&., & Shelton, K. (2009). Supporting online faculty – Revisiting the seven principles (a few years later). Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 12(3).

Ragan, L.C., Bigatel, P.M., Kennan, S.S., & Dillion, J.M. (2012). From research to practice: Towards an integrated and comprehensive faculty development program. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 16(5), 71-86.

Rice, R.E., Sorcinelli, M.D., & Austin, A.E. (2000). Heeding new voices: Academic careers for a new generation. New Pathways Working Paper Series (Vol. 7). Washington, D.C.: American Association of Higher Education.

Sarason, S. B., (1974). The psychological sense of community: Prospects for a community psychology. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Seaman, J., (2009). Online learning as a strategic asset. Volume II: The paradox of faculty voices: Views and experiences with online learning, Washington, D.C.: Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.

Sherer, P., Shea, P., & Kristensen, E. (2003). Online communities of practice: A catalyst for faculty development. Innovative Higher Education, 27(3), 183-194.

Smith, P.J. (2005). Learning preferences and readiness for online learning. Educational Psychology, 25(1), 3–12.

Sorcinelli, M.D., Austin, A.E., Eddy, P.L., and Beach, A.L. (2006). Creating the future of faculty development: Learning from the past, understanding the present. Bolton, MA: Anker Publishing Company.

Spradley, J. P. (1979). The ethnographic interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we expect more from technology and less from each other. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Turkle, S. (2004). How Computers Change Way We Think. The Chronicle of Higher Education, B26. Retrieved March 4, 2013.

Turkle, S., Gusterson, H., Dumit, J., Mindell, D., & Silbey, S. (2005). Information technologies and professional identity: A comparative study of the effects of virtuality. Washington, DC.: National Science Foundation.

Velez, A.M. (2009). The ties that bind: How faculty learning communities connect online adjuncts to their virtual institutions. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 12(2).

Vogt, W. P., Gardner, D. C., & Haeffele, L. M. (2012). When to use what researchdesign. Guilford Press.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind and society: The development of higher mental processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Wenger, E. (1999). Communities of practice: Learning, meaning, and identity. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.

Downloads

Published

2014-12-23

Issue

Section

Faculty Issues