Supporting Academic Continuity by Building Community: The Work of a Faculty Development Center During COVID-19 (original) (raw)
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Supporting Academic Continuity by Building Community
Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 2020
In the initial rush to remote instruction during COVID-19, educators focused on technologies to ensure academic continuity and relied on instructional technology teams to teach them how to use them. Soon after, instructors turned to educational development professionals for more comprehensive help to rethink face-to-face pedagogy to fit the affordances and constraints of online teaching. Historically, our Faculty Development Center (FDC) had focused primarily on pedagogical support for face-toface classes. During the crisis, we needed both to re-envision our work to support remote instruction and distinguish our work from that of our instructional technology colleagues. We also needed to re-evaluate our work in two other areas of our mission: pedagogical research and assessment of student learning outcomes. We recognized that a key goal of our FDC's work provided a guiding principle in the new situation: to build faculty community around teaching and learning. Although faculty needed instruction and solutions for teaching online, they also needed a venue to think through the existential change in their teaching practice and the multiple challenges and choices they faced. In this paper, we discuss our three-pronged approach to build a vibrant, virtual faculty community: provide a sense of continuity through our offerings and services; prioritize program content to meet immediate needs; and promote complementarity between our support and that of instructional technology. Our efforts resulted in significantly expanding our reach, renewing the culture of inquiry around teaching among our faculty, and refining and reinforcing our role as complementary to, but distinct from, instructional technology.
Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning, 2020
To assess the perceived role and ability of centers for teaching and learning (CTLs) in supporting faculty in a time of crisis, we asked the following research questions: (1) how did CTL staff view their involvement in the process of responding to the coronavirus pandemic and shifting to virtual instruction; and (2) how did CTL staff perceive their capacity to help instructors transition to remote instruction. In pursuit of these questions, we conducted a content analysis of open-ended survey responses from 143 unique CTL staff participants. Our findings indicate that participants in CTLs who were highly involved in the pandemic response experienced active engagement (e.g., being at the table with decision-makers), frequent communication (e.g., regularly attending transition task force meetings), and recognition (e.g., feeling as though their expertise and input was valued and seen). CTL staff that did not feel involved in the process tended to frame their experiences as responding to top-down demands (e.g., fulfilling task-oriented roles rather than comprehensive engagement with decision-makers), navigating poor communication (e.g., receiving important information late in the process through email), and feeling undervalued (e.g., feeling taken for granted). CTL staff that felt prepared to respond to virtual instruction discussed having extensive expertise and/or strategies outlined for success, previouslyprepared and/or robust programming for faculty support in place, and collaborations with other departments or centers on and off campus. However, CTL staff that felt less able to address the needs of faculty expressed problems with being understaffed and illequipped (e.g., having inadequate expertise). Across all respondents, CTL staff discussed working additional hours to address greater responsibilities and/or faculty demand. To maximize the CTL’s ability to support faculty, we suggest that institutions bolster opportunities for CTLs to be involved in the decision-making process (even if an advisory role) about policies impacting instruction and communicate frequently and openly with CTL directors. If unable to devote additional resources for staffing, we recommend that administrators foster collaborative partnerships across departments (e.g., Office of Information Technology) to leverage cross-institutional expertise. Furthermore, CTLs should work to develop relationships with faculty and institutional partners through continual programming, in order to build expertise, create relationships with faculty, and embed themselves within the larger institutional framework.
From Bricks and Mortar to Remote Teaching: A Teacher Education Program‘s Response to COVID-19
Journal of Education for Teaching, 2020
The spread of COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe with incendiary events that transformed not only economies and health, but also education at all levels, in all nations, and to all people. The effects on primary, secondary, and higher education were swift, leaving higher education institutions to fend for themselves. In the United States, the delivery of knowledge in a traditional classroom setting changed to exclusively online teaching overnight. This article presents how one California liberal arts college and its graduate teacher education programme prepared its faculty for this significant transition for a different educational setting and teaching methodologies in response to COVID-19. Faculty were resilient to the changes in teaching delivery models of remote/online education that were imminent. The data yielded five themes: Technology-Based Instructional Strategies; Technology-Based Support Office Consultation; Alternative Technology-Based Course Assessments; Feedback for Learning and Teaching Improvement; and Social-Emotional Engagement in Courses, and Support of Clinical Placement that were found to be essential to transitioning to remote/online teaching.
A Perturbed System: How Tenured Faculty Responded to the COVID-19 Shift to Remote Instruction
Journal of Chemical Education, 2020
This study investigates university professors' reflections on the shift to remote instruction during the Spring 2020 semester in response to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The rapid shift in instructional platform presents an opportunity to learn from unresolved challenges that persisted through the semester. Here we present a qualitative study of how experienced (e.g., associate or full) chemistry professors report their teaching practices, in light of the COVID-19 disruptions. We observed four 15 major themes: personal factors, contextual factors of the structure and culture, teacher thinking, and teachers' practice. These themes revealed that the professors in this study adapted quickly using institutionally offered platforms, modified their courses as minimally as possible, struggled with assessment, and held diverging beliefs about teaching and students. The outcomes of this study have implications for ongoing efforts to reform instructional practices at the institutional and departmental 20 level. Specifically, we recommend similar studies to ascertain current faculty beliefs and instructional practices in other departments in order to identify shared visions for change and effective supports for enacting that change.
Higher Learning Research Communications, 2022
Objectives: During the COVID-19 pandemic, university faculty experienced an emergency pivot to online instruction in the Spring 2020 semester. Many had no prior online teaching experience and were given little time to adapt. This study examines pre-pandemic online teaching experience and training strategies used to learn how to teach online during the emergency remote teaching semester, perceptions of change in online teaching ability and the pandemic's impact on teaching effectiveness, and interest in future online teaching opportunities. Method: Full-time faculty (n = 455) from four public regional universities in the southern United States completed a survey at the start of the Fall 2020 semester. Results: Over 35% had no prior online teaching experience, while 43% had taught several online courses. During the pandemic, in an effort to learn or improve online teaching skills, 13.4% sought peer mentoring, 31.9% completed a training program, and 34.9% both sought mentoring and completed training. Perceived Hebert et al., 2022 Open Access Higher Learning Research Communications 60 online teaching skills, impact of the pandemic on teaching effectiveness, and interest in future online teaching were significantly related to prior online teaching experience and training sought. Conclusions: Faculty with less online experience perceived a greater negative effect of the pandemic on teaching performance and had less interest in future online teaching. Both mentoring and training enhanced perceived teaching skills, lowered the negative impact of the pandemic on teaching effectiveness, and promoted a positive attitude about future online teaching. Implications for Theory or Practice: The results provide support for the importance of faculty development programs in shaping attitudes and perceived effectiveness in online teaching and add to existent research on university faculty during the pandemic. Evidence from studies such as this provides universities with data that may be used to re-evaluate induction and training to improve instructional delivery in future instances when emergency remote teaching is required.
2021
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, online learning was a contested issue within higher education. Advocates of online higher education saw it as a way to make college more accessible and affordable and bring high-quality education to those who might not be able to attend in-person classes. However, many faculty were skeptical or reluctant to teach online and in particular expressed concerns about increased workload, inferior learning outcomes, cheating, and losing connection with students. When the pandemic began, some argued that it would accelerate the acceptance of online teaching by faculty, while others argued the pandemic would reveal the weaknesses and limitations of online teaching. Overall, this study shows more support for the former than the latter. A plurality (49.3%) of faculty surveyed report that following the pivot to emergency remote teaching they have a more positive view of online education while 27.5% report no change and only 22.9% have a more negative view. Furthe...
From bricks and mortar to remote teaching: a teacher education programme‘s response to COVID-19
Journal of Education for Teaching
The spread of COVID-19 pandemic swept the globe with incendiary events that transformed not only economies and health, but also education at all levels, in all nations, and to all people. The effects on primary, secondary, and higher education were swift, leaving higher education institutions to fend for themselves. In the United States, the delivery of knowledge in a traditional classroom setting changed to exclusively online teaching overnight. This article presents how one California liberal arts college and its graduate teacher education programme prepared its faculty for this significant transition for a different educational setting and teaching methodologies in response to COVID-19. Faculty were resilient to the changes in teaching delivery models of remote/online education that were imminent. The data yielded five themes: Technology-Based Instructional Strategies; Technology-Based Support Office Consultation; Alternative Technology-Based Course Assessments; Feedback for Learning and Teaching Improvement; and Social-Emotional Engagement in Courses, and Support of Clinical Placement that were found to be essential to transitioning to remote/online teaching.
Journal of Educators Online, 2022
This mixed method, sequential explanatory study seeks to explore how faculty and students at a comprehensive university in a Mid-Atlantic American city were impacted by the shift to emergency remote teaching and learning during the spring of 2020. Data were collected through surveys, followup focus groups, and individual interviews. We tracked which technologies and teaching and learning supports faculty and students used when moving to emergency remote teaching and learning. Faculty and students reported overall positive experiences despite the challenges associated with the transition. Participants favored technologies that attempted to mirror the face-to-face experience and encouraged social presence. Quantitative and qualitative findings collectively indicated that participants were focused on variables that impacted student learning and fostered adaptions and accommodations in response to the needs of the university community during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessons learned from this study offer universities evidence-based ways to engage and support teaching and learning processes even after the pandemic is over.
International Journal of Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Higher Education
This short essay highlights how the COVID-19 crisis forced many faculty members in the higher education setting to abruptly transition from face-to-face and hybrid instruction to remote teaching. We highlight how emergency remote teaching can lead to overall improved instruction (regardless of future course modality) and better preparedness (for future crises) through an asserted effort to reflect on the experience as a whole.
Frontiers in Education, 2020
The purpose of this study was to explore the initial perceptions and experiences of faculty whose classes were moved to an online/distance delivery as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using mixed methods online survey methodology, the researchers sought to describe faculty perceptions relative to their response to moving all university courses online within the timeframe allotted by university leadership. Building upon this groups' previous research, which focused on the relationships among care and rigor in the online teaching/learning environment, the researchers designed survey questions to further explore these concepts during a time of chaos. The survey addressed faculty perceptions and lived experiences related to supporting this transition, previous experiences with online teaching, the role of rigor and care in course design and implementation, and opportunities for demonstrating care toward colleagues. Information gleaned from the study will help to inform university leadership, instructional design support personnel, and faculty. As the long-term economic, social, and academic effects are realized across the world, the researchers anticipate significant changes in higher education.