Home // International Journal On Advances in Life Sciences, volume 6, numbers 3 and 4, 2014 // View article
Authors:
Vanessa Slinger-Friedman
Joe Terantino
Christopher K. Randall
Philip J. Aust
Tamara Powell
Keywords: e-learning, faculty perceptions, online course building, online teaching, professional development
Abstract:
This paper reports the findings of a study conducted to assess an innovative online course building and instructor faculty development program offered at a major regional university. The training program, entitled “The Project,” was designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of university-level instructors with previous online course development and instructional experience. At the conclusion of the five-month program, “Project” participants completed a 20-item questionnaire to identify best practices of the program and to refine its content for future offerings. Main findings include (a) faculty learn most when faculty development materials model best practices of online teaching, (b) faculty perceive pedagogy and technology-related modules as the most important content of online training, and (c) online training programs must be updated regularly to keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape of online teaching and learning. Future research needs to examine the impact that similar programs have on student learning, evaluate the transfer of developmental training programs to faculty use of technology, and provide a broader sense of how advanced training impacts faculty development in a university setting.
Pages: 220 to 228
Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2014. Used with permission.
Publication date: December 30, 2014
Published in: journal
ISSN: 1942-2660