Date of Award

8-23-2024

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation

Advisor(s)

Tiffany Koszalka

Keywords

Bloom's Revised Taxonomies;Community of Inquiry;Depth of Learning;Interactions;Online;Synchronous

Abstract

Online instruction in higher education continues to gain popularity leading to a rise in demand for online course seats. This increase in enrollments has required universities to develop strategies to maintain quality instruction while accommodating larger numbers of online students. With best practices in online instruction suggesting smaller class sizes to foster active interaction, the increase in student enrollment has placed stress on the institution and the Faculty of Record [FoR] who developed the online courses from the main campus classes they generally teach themselves. The ideal online class size for effective learning has been well researched. These classes are small with an ideal size of approximately 15. Accordingly, universities have added additional course sections and have resorted to hiring adjunct faculty [AdjF] to teach additional sections beyond what the FoR can accommodate. This increased use of online [OL] instruction has been further enabled by advances in technology permitting real time synchronous online discussion [SOD]. To mimic live in class interactions between instructors and learner, there has been a concerted effort to use SOD strategies to maintain quality student engagement. These SODs are generally facilitated by the FoR assigned to a specific course section, with AdjF hired to facilitate additional sections. In a pilot study that compared the FoR with an AdjF there were notable differences in SOD strategies. These SOD strategies have raised questions as to the quality of student experiences in courses taught by FoR versus AdjF. This study seeks to describe the difference in strategies, interactions, and learning outcomes in course sections taught by a FoR versus an AdjF. The course under investigation is designed as synchronous hybrid learning experience, meaning it is composed of both asynchronous and synchronous components. Each course section uses identical asynchronous components along with a series of accompanying SODs, that are conducted once per week. Each SOD is facilitated by, either the FoR or an AdjF for the entire course. Although the sections are equivalent in design of asynchronous activities, the synchronous sessions of the course are facilitated live, by respective faculty. This raises questions as to whether both the FoR and AdjF maintain the same level of quality instruction that leads to equivalent quality of learning outcomes in the course, regardless of section. This study is mixed methods research that looks to measure depth of demonstrated levels of learning, surface learning or deeper, social, and cognitive presence, as well as interactions achieved in samples of SODs where one section is facilitated by the FoR and another section is facilitated by an AdjF. Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy and the Community of Inquiry [CoI] will be used to code SODs at three different points within the two different sections of the same course. SODs will be coded early, midway through and at the end of the course across a 10-week semester. A comparative analysis will be made of the two sections to identify qualitative and quantitative differences in strategies used between faculty and the types and levels of behavioral interactions that lead to similar or different learning outcomes (surface vs, deeper learning) between the two sections.

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Open Access

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