Faculty perceptions regarding their online teaching experiences during the global COVID-19 crisis in the United States: A Case Study

• In Event: Experiences and lessons learned in response to COVID-19 restrictions

Proposal

Introduction
The arrival of the COVID-19 global health crisis forced higher education institutions to move to digital distance learning worldwide. It pushed educators and students across all levels of education to adapt quickly to virtual courses (World Economic Forum, 2022). According to the World Economic Forum (2022), “194 countries and regions temporarily closed their educational institutions, affecting more than 1.5 billion students worldwide” (para. 2). . Adjustments to current pedagogical practices and diving deeper into future research around faculty and student perceptions of online education will make adjusting the curriculum smoother. They will allow for better preparation around the impacts of other potential issues like the COVID-19 global health crisis.
Purpose Statement
This research is a testament to the resilience and adaptability of faculty members who swiftly transitioned their instruction online in the face of the global COVID-19 crisis. The study aims to understand and examine their perceptions, the challenges they faced, the new e-learning tools they adopted, and the lessons they learned. It also explores how these experiences have influenced their views of online education.
Research Questions
The research questions we aimed to address with this study were crucial in understanding the faculty's experiences during the global COVID-19 health crisis. These questions were not just inquiries, but key to unlocking a deeper understanding of the challenges and lessons learned by faculty during this unprecedented time.
1. What were faculty online education experiences during the global COVID-19 health crisis?
The sub-questions include:
1. What challenges did the faculty face with the switch to online instruction?
2. What lessons did faculty learn with the switch to online instruction?
Theoretical Framework
Drawing on adaptation and organizational resilience theories, this study examines the adjustments faculty made to their traditional, face-to-face learning environments, collects data surrounding the adoption of e-learning tools, and identifies the best practices incorporated in online teaching and learning environments - all brought on by the global health crisis, COVID-19. Adaptation theory analyzes “an organism's ability to adapt to changes in its environment and adjust overtime accordingly” (King, 2018, para. 1). It supports the idea that adaptations occur from generation to generation until the entire species changes and is better suited to their environment (King, 2018, para. 1). This research will also represent organizational resilience theory, which “describes the ability of organizations to anticipate, respond to, recover from and learn from adversity” (Hepfer & Lawrence, 2022, p. 2). Organizational resilience is often measured by degree, whereas more resilient organizations respond to adversity earlier and learn deeply from experiences (Hepfer & Lawrence, 2022, p. 2).
Literature Review
Faculty members’ perceptions and attitudes toward online learning highlighted the role of instructors in facilitating communication and learning with students. Despite challenges, many faculty members reported positive experiences with e-learning in higher education. This positive feedback from faculty members is a testament to the potential of online education and the need to understand faculty perceptions to ensure effective and prepared instructors.
Methodology and Data Analysis
The study included a convenience sample of faculty (e.g., tenured, tenure-track, non-tenured, adjuncts, and graduate teaching assistants) selected from a Midwestern university. A survey was sent to 963 faculty, of which 98 responses were received. We used Qualtrics, an online survey platform, to distribute the survey via email to those identified faculty members once it was validated and approved by the IRB. The survey questions consisted of both Likert and Guttman scale structured questions. The Likert scale questions measured faculty responses using an interval format, rating their responses regarding the effectiveness of the new learning environment on a five-point scale ranging from 1-5. The Guttman scale questions analyzed faculty perceptions by allowing them to select all appropriate responses applicable to their experiences (Trochim, 2020b). This survey design provided a quantitative or numeric description of trends. Of the 963 faculty surveyed, 75 were used to calculate the reliability analysis, and 21 were excluded. The Cronbach’s alpha was high for the before-COVID-19 items (α=0.913) and the after-COVID-19 items (α=0.908), indicating the measurements were reliable and may measure the same characteristic. A paired samples t-test indicated there was no significant difference between perceptions before COVID-19 (M = 2.09, SD = 1.02) and after COVID-19 (M = 2.01, SD = .97), t(74) = 0.99, p = .33
Preliminary Findings
The research revealed three key themes around challenges faculty faced due to the switch to online learning - Academic Performance, Resource Availability, and Coping Strategies. These themes, which represented responses from faculty who focused on subjective measures of academic performance, availability of all resource types, and the need for coping strategies, have significant implications for the design and implementation of online education.
The survey respondents shared valuable insights into the lessons learned from the switch to online instruction. Two common themes emerged—technology adoption and discipline-dependent teaching. While faculty were initially forced to embrace new technology, they began to see its advantages and continued to adopt new technologies into their curriculum. However, the survey also highlighted that the success of online education is heavily dependent on the discipline being taught. Some disciplines, such as nursing and lab-based courses, are more challenging to teach online. These insights into the challenges and successes of online education provide valuable lessons for the future.
When reviewing some of the “lessons learned” by faculty, many adapted to the new online environment through accommodation. Some faculty used or adopted new online tools, such as new learning management systems and web conference platforms, 69.39% and 63.27%, respectively. Some respondents expressed satisfaction with the change because they are cheaper, more accessible, and reasonably acceptable to most students. Other faculty used or adopted new pedagogical practices, such as problem-based and self-paced learning, at 18.37% and 15.31%, respectively.

Authors

• Kari McMullen, Illinois State University

• Mohamed A Nur-Awaleh, Illinois State University

• Lydia Kyei-blankson, Illinois State University