Date of Award

2008

Degree Name

Curriculum and Instruction

College

College of Education

Type of Degree

Ed.D.

Document Type

Dissertation

First Advisor

Rudy D. Pauley

Second Advisor

Lisa A. Heaton

Third Advisor

Nega Debela

Fourth Advisor

Emily Waugh

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent West Virginia higher education faculty agree their online courses reflect high quality practices, as identified by the literature, for teaching in an online educational environment. The identified high quality practices are: (a) support, (b) collaboration and teamwork, (c) flexibility, (d) feedback, (e) assessment, and (f) adult learning techniques. This was a non-parametric study that incorporated measures of central tendency and the Kruskal Wallace test for significance to analyze the data. The instrument used in this research was a cross-sectional, self-reporting survey, titled the Survey of Online Educational Practices. The participants of this study were West Virginia higher education faculty who taught in online environments during the spring, summer and fall semesters of 2006. Results of the survey yielded that overall West Virginia Higher Education faculty agreed with the statements on the Survey of Online Educational Practices that their courses reflected quality online practices as supported by the comprehensive literature review. However, further analysis of the survey results revealed faculty do not agree with all of the quality online practices targeted within the survey. For example, there is evidence from the survey results that indicate the areas of institutional support, collaboration and teamwork, and areas of assessment are not well utilized by faculty. These areas of disagreement with quality online practices provide valuable information that there is an ongoing need for sustainable professional development and mentoring opportunities for online faculty. There is also a need for institutions to provide policies and procedures that are reviewed and revised by faculty and other higher education stakeholders on a regular basis due to the ever-changing nature of technology and online education.

Subject(s)

Computer-assisted instruction - West Virginia.

Web-based instruction - West Virginia.

Distance education - West Virginia.

Education, Higher - Computer-assisted instruction.

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