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Community-Building in an Online Asynchronous Ed.D. Program (Poster 9)

Thu, April 24, 3:35 to 5:05pm MDT (3:35 to 5:05pm MDT), The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Terrace Level, Bluebird Ballroom Room 2A

Abstract

This qualitative instrumental case study (Stake, 2005) investigates the following research questions: 1) How does an online asynchronous Ed.D. program support students in building community with their peers? 2) What aspects of program design can support students in maintaining community and accessing support online and/or asynchronously? To answer these questions, we conducted interviews with students, faculty, and program support staff. We also analyzed program planning documents, focusing on program design for community building and student support.
Building community is critical to student success in doctoral programs. In Ed.D. programs, which often enroll working professionals and educational practitioners, this can be especially difficult, due to time constraints and professional demands. This issue is further complicated as more programs move online, with some adopting asynchronous online models.

Building community in online learning programs is particularly important to student success because it decreases isolation, and increases academic achievement, learning, and student satisfaction (van Tryon & Bishop, 2009). While research has shown that some practices, like online collaborative annotation tools, can help support community for online students (Adams & Wilson, 2020), few studies have investigated how student community and collaboration is built and supported at a program level, particularly in online, asynchronous doctoral programs.
In one study of synchronous online Ed.D. program, researchers found that programs using cohort models, robust student support services, and synchronous sessions can support community-building (Lively et al., 2021). Building on this work, this study uses a situated learning framework (Lave, 1991) to examine how one Ed.D. program builds community and supports students in an online, asynchronous context.

Preliminary findings indicate that the program under study developed an engaged and supportive community for students during their doctoral journeys through instructional support for faculty, and structured synchronous opportunities for student engagement.The Ed.D. Program provides faculty training and support on how to increase engagement and collaboration in their courses, which influences students’ abilities to connect with and support each other, and to successfully navigate an online asynchronous program. For example, this program employs a part time learning designer who supports faculty in building their online courses in a structured way. Faculty are required to take a basic online learning design course, after which they work with the dedicated learning designer to learn a variety of online tools. The focus of the faculty member’s work with the learning designer is on how to use these tools to increase collaboration and maintain connection among the cohort throughout their courses.

The program also offers support for synchronous student engagement. Coursework is delivered primarily online and asynchronously, however, each summer there is a one-week in-person summer residency to bring the cohort together and build community. Additionally, advising processes are designed to create “learner profiles” for each student, in order to develop advising groups that meet synchronously throughout the year, in an effort to maintain the community started in the summer residency.

In the full paper, we describe these supports in additional detail, with data drawn from the results of the case study.

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