GOLDEN OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION? A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE INTERACTION EXPERIENCES OF PROFESSORS AND INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGNERS DURING ONLINE COURSE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT

Debra ChitturPepperdine University

Kay Davis, Ed.D., ChairPaul Sparks, Ph.D.Maria Brahme, Ed.D.

Overview of Presentation

• Background of Problem

• Foundations of Study

• Study Design and Methodology

• Questions

Higher Education TodayTransformational moment in higher education (Fink, 2013)

19th century

Establishment of land grant universities

Turn of the 20th century

Departmentalization of academic disciplines

Mid-20th century

Call for access for nontraditional students

Higher Education TodayGrowth of competition (Newman, et al., 2010)

Rise of for-profit

education

Changing student

characteristics

Deregulation by federal

government

Technology creates new

delivery systems

Higher Education Today

Problem Overview

Faculty teach the way they were taught

Few incentives for them to use research-based practices

Online course design shows promise as a mechanism for rethinking teaching

Purpose of Study

To understand how

• working with an instructional designer (ID) designing an online course

• influences a professor’s pedagogical practice.

Research QuestionsThe central guiding research question of the study is:

How do the experiences of professors and instructional designers who collaborate together to develop an online course positively influence the pedagogical practice of the professors? Sub questions: 

What are professor perceptions regarding improvements to their pedagogy specific to the guidance and input from the instructional designer? How are improved pedagogical practices described and are there clear references to instructional design principles and student-centered pedagogical practices (Merrill, 2002)? How do professors and instructional designers explain how emotions and threats were handled throughout the process considering the threat management model (Williams, 2007)?

Conceptual Frameworks

Merrill’s First Principles

(2013)

Threat Regulation

Model of Trust (Williams, 2007)

College Teaching

Faculty use traditional

teaching methods

• College instructors have autonomy in the classroom (Martin, 2009)

• Most use lecture or Socratic method (Cutler, 2013)

College Teaching

Research supports active learning

pedagogy (Bonwell & Eison, 1991) in college classroom

(Prince, 2004; Code, et. al, 2014; Michael,

2006).

• Lectures segmented with interspersed student reflection activities

• Positive environment for discussion

• Targeted use of media

• Inclusion of activity types such as cooperative learning, debates, role playing, simulation, peer teaching

College Teaching

At institutional level, few incentives for faculty to adopt student-centered methods• Lack of model that can be used nationwide

(unlike U.K., for example)• Faculty development centers not as effective

as hoped (Lee, 2010)• Research skills more valuable than teaching

(Brownell & Tanner, 2012; Allgood & Walstad, 2013; Finelli, et. al., 2013)

College Teaching

At personal level, barriers to change by professors (Bonwell & Eison, 1991)• Prefer teacher centered teaching methods

(Dancy & Henderson, 2010)• Risk to identity as experts (Post, 2011)• Fear of change (Ahmed, 2013)• Lack of training, time, and incentives

(Brownell & Tanner, 2012)

Online TeachingQuality

indicators that align

with active learning (Chaney,

et. al., 2009) (OLC

Scorecard, Quality

Matters)

Greater personaliz

ation of interaction between students

and professors (Sandeen,

2013)

Opportunity to rethink what is in courses

(Scagnoli, et. al., 2009)

CAVEAT: If professors and

instructional designers do

not design course

together, opportunity to use student-

centered methods is lost (McQuiggan,

2007; Lawrence &

Lentle-Keenan, 2013)

Research QuestionsThe central guiding research question of the study is:How do the experiences of professors and instructional designers who collaborate together to develop an online course positively influence the pedagogical practice of the professors? Sub questions: 

What are professor perceptions regarding improvements to their pedagogy specific to the guidance and input from the instructional designer? How are improved pedagogical practices described and are there clear references to instructional design principles and student-centered pedagogical practices (Merrill, 2002)? How do professors and instructional designers explain how emotions and threats were handled throughout the process considering the threat management model (Williams, 2007)?

Instructional Design in Higher Education

IDs used in faculty

development and online

course design (You,

2010)

• Trained in student-centered teaching methods (Akella, 2015)

• IDs could act as change agents during online course design process (Pan, et. Al, 2003)

• Use instructional design models to guide practice (Sims & Koszalka, 2008)

Merrill’s First Principles (2013)Merrill’s First Principles of Instruction

Problem-Centered Learning is promoted when learners acquire skills in the context

of real-world problems

Activation Learning is promoted when learners activate existing

knowledge and skill as a foundation for new skills

Demonstration Learning is promoted when learners observe a demonstration of

the skill to be learned

Application Learning is promoted when learners apply their newly acquired

skill to solve problems

Integration Learning is promoted when learners reflect on, discuss, and

defend their newly acquired skill

Research QuestionsThe central guiding research question of the study is:How do the experiences of professors and instructional designers who collaborate together to develop an online course positively influence the pedagogical practice of the professors? Sub questions: 

What are professor perceptions regarding improvements to their pedagogy specific to the guidance and input from the instructional designer? How are improved pedagogical practices described and are there clear references to instructional design principles and student-centered pedagogical practices (Merrill, 2002)? How do professors and instructional designers explain how emotions and threats were handled throughout the process considering the threat management model (Williams, 2007)?

Interaction Between Faculty and IDs

Standards for exemplary practice by IDs include application of interpersonal skills to work with SMEs (IBSTPI)• Humor, humanity, patience,

empathy (Pan, et. al, 2003)• Willingness to help others

(Barczyk, et. al., 2010)• Respectful of professor’s

teaching style (Stevens, 2012)

Interaction Between Faculty and IDs

A few studies about successful subject matter expert qualities in industry.• Choose SMEs who

exhibit collegiality, humor and collaborative skills Mattoon, 2005)

Could not identify any which examined

faculty SMEs.

Threat Regulation Model of Trust(Williams, 2007)

Boundary spanners play an active role in creating an environment of

trust

Threats: Opportunism, neglect of interests of others, loss of identity

Self-management: Anticipate threats, plan interactions, respond

to behavioral cues

Trust

(Pan, et. al.,

2003)

Research QuestionsThe central guiding research question of the study is:How do the experiences of professors and instructional designers who collaborate together to develop an online course positively influence the pedagogical practice of the professors? Sub questions: 

What are professor perceptions regarding improvements to their pedagogy specific to the guidance and input from the instructional designer? How are improved pedagogical practices described and are there clear references to instructional design principles and student-centered pedagogical practices (Merrill, 2002)? How do professors and instructional designers explain how emotions and threats were handled throughout the process considering the threat management model (Williams, 2007)?

Qualitative Research

Social constructivism

Rely on interpretation of participant

Ideal for understanding interactions between people

(Creswell, 2013)

Phenomenology

“Lived experiences” of participants

Distill the essence of a phenomenon

Hermeneutics allows use of theories to shape exploration

(Creswell, 2013; Husserl, 2008; Lueger, et al., 1994; Tavallaei & Talib, 2010)

Data Collection

Instructional designers:

Trained (degree or certificate in ID or related field)

Professors:Teach college courses online and

on groundSay their teaching has improved as a result of interaction with IDs

Identify professor/instructional designer pairs to interview

Data Collection

Purposive sampling method (Gray, 2013)• Personal network of ID and

professor colleagues• LinkedIn and other social media

groups

If necessary, snowball sampling (Gray, 2013)

Data Collection

Semi-structured interviews

(Gray, 2013)

Participants interviewed separately (Starks & Trinidad,

2007)

Held in Zoom, 60-90 minutes long

Stored in Dropbox account

Data Collection

• Explain step-by step process of course building/conversion

• Describe interactions during the process

• Preconceptions about the process

• Challenges that emerged

Interview questions

:

Data Collection - ID QuestionsPlease describe the process, step-by-step, you engaged in while working with this faculty member to convert his/her course to an online format.

Did you use a particular instructional design approach to guide this process? If so, which one? Can you tie the steps you described previously to this approach?

Have you created any tools to use with faculty to explain your process? If so, would you share them post-interview?

What were the methods of communication you used to work with this faculty member – for example, face-to-face meetings, email, telephone, etc?

How would you describe this faculty member’s responses initially to your suggestions for employing instructional design methods structuring this course for an online format?

Did the initial tone of your interaction change over time? If so, would you describe the change?

Did you have any concerns going in to this process about how the faculty member would handle the interaction? If so, what were they? How were you prepared to respond?

Were there any “bumps along the way” in these interactions? If so, how did you handle them?

At any time during these interactions, did the faculty member express to you an interest in adapting his/her classroom practices as a result of interacting with you? If so, would you describe this/these expression(s)?

Data Collection - Faculty QuestionsPlease describe the process, step-by-step, you engaged in while working with this instructional designer to convert your course to an online format.

What written materials (syllabus, etc.) did you share with the instructional designer to help guide this process? Would you share them post-interview?

Have those written materials changed since you converted the course to an online format? If so, would you share them post-interview

What were the methods of communication you used to work with this instructional designer – for example, face-to-face meetings, email, telephone, etc.?

Did the instructional designer suggest restructuring the course for online delivery? If so, what was your initial reaction to this suggestion?

If your course underwent restructuring for online delivery, how did your feelings about these changes develop over time, if they did?

Did you have any concerns going in to this process about how the instructional designer would handle the interaction? If so, what were they? How were you prepared to respond?

Data Analysis

(Creswell, 2013)

Data Analysis

Interviews will be transcribed (Gray, 2013)

Codebook initially will include codes based on the two frameworks (Merrill, 2013; Williams, 2007)

Additional codes added as they emerge

HyperRESEARCH used to analyze

Data Analysis

• As topics emerge, will be clustered into categories

• Interrelationships between categories explored

• Multiple passes through data to be sure all topics and themes are captured

Topical approach

(Creswell, 2013)

Validity

Pilot of interview questions

Peer Reviewer for coding consistency

Interviewee review of findings

Human Subjects Considerations

Minimal risks (embarrassment, concern for reputation)

Interviewer will seek to build rapport and use neutral tone

Informed consent by participants

Exempt 2 category (de-identified, not asked for sensitive information)

Only researcher will know names of participants

Summary

Is there a “golden opportunity” for

faculty development through interactions

between IDs and professors during the online course design

process?

How can IDs take advantage of these

“teachable moments?”

Questions