The Experience of A First-time Online Cultural Studies Instructor: A Case Study

Esther Smidt, Michelle McGowan, Timothy Kochem, Maria Van Liew

Abstract


With enrollment in online courses continuing to rise, student learning and satisfaction have become the focus of a growing body of research. However, the first-time online instructor experience has not been as widely investigated. This study examines the experience of Pamela, a first-time online Cultural Studies instructor, through a series of interviews conducted throughout the semester in order to track her progression at four points in the semester. It also seeks to determine what factors the first-time online instructor perceives to have the greatest impact on course creation and teaching strategies, namely the nature of the Cultural Studies course as implemented online, Pamela’s digital immigrant mindset and growth throughout the semester, best practices and constraints in distance education, and the results of best practice.

Keywords


first-time; online instructor; Cultural Studies; case study

Full Text:

PDF

References


Anderson, T. (Ed.) (2008). The theory and practice of online learning. Edmonton, AB: Athabasca University Press.

Simonson, M. (2015). Accreditation and quality in distance education. Distance Learning, 12(1), 27.

Keegan, D. (1996). Foundations of distance education. Psychology Press.

Moore, M. G. (Ed.) (2013). Handbook of distance education. New York: Routledge.

Bullock, S. M. (2011). Teaching 2.0: (re)learning to teach online. Interactive Technology and Smart Education, 8(2), 94-105.

Harry, K., Keegan, D., & John, M. (2013). Distance education: New perspectives. New York: Routledge.

Bower, B. L. (2001). Distance education: facing the faculty challenge. Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 4(2), 1-6.

Bjelland, B., Miller, G., & Sprecher, M. (2014). Professional development needs of instructors of online swine science courses. North American Colleges & Teachers of Agriculture, 58(2), 109-114.

Johnson, A. E. (2008). A nursing faculty’s transition to teaching online. Nursing Education Perspectives, 29(1), 17-22.

Bolliger, D. U., Inan, F. A., & Wasilik, O. (2014). Development and validation of the online instructor satisfaction measure (OISM). Educational Technology & Society, 17(2), 183-195.

Dusing, G. M., Hosler, J. C., & Ragan, J. M. (2012). Teaching accounting courses online: one instructor’s experience. American Journal of Business Education, 5(3), 359-368.

Fein, A. D. & Logan, M. C. (2003). Preparing instructors for online instruction. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 100, 45-55.

Regan, K., Evmenova, A., Baker, P., Jerome, M. K., Spencer, V., Lawson, H., & Werner, T. (2012). Experiences of instructors in online learning environments: identifying and regulating emotions. Internet and Higher Education, 15, 204-212.

Shattuck, J. & Anderson, T. (2013). Using a design-based research study to identify principles for training instructors to teach online. International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, 14(5), 186-210.

Sword, T. S. (2012). The transition to online teaching as experience by nurse educators. Nursing Education Perspectives, 33(4), 269-271.

Tschida, C. M. & Sevier, B. R. (2013). Teaching social studies online: an exemplar for examining the broader implications of online methods courses in teacher education. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 9(4), 500-515.

Choi, H. J. & Park, J. H. (2006). Difficulties that a novice online instructor faced: a case study. Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 7(3), 317-322.

Farber, R. S. (2013). Distance education and teaching online: my journey from mystery to mastery. Occupational Therapy in Health Care, 27(3), 272-279.

Fuller, P. & Yu, G. (2014). Lessons learned: online teaching adventures and misadventures. Journal of Social Sciences, 10(1), 33-38.

Peruski, L. & Mishra, P. (2004). Webs of activity in online course design and teaching. Research in Learning Technology, 12(1), 37-49.

Peterson, S. S. & Slotta, J. (2009). Saying yes to online learning: a first-time experience teaching an online graduate course in literacy education. Literacy Research and Instruction, 48, 120-136.

Samburskiy, D. & Quah, J. (2014). Corrective feedback in asynchronous online interaction: developing novice online language instructors. CALICO Journal, 31(2), 158-178.

Uca-Gunes, E. P. & Gumus, S. (2010). Instructors’ transformations during early online teaching experiences. Procedia Social and Behavioral Sciences, 9, 839-844.

Yu, C. & Brandenburg, T. (2006). I would have had more success if…: the reflections and tribulations of a first-time online instructor. Journal of Technology Studies, 32(1), 43-52.

Richardson, J. C. & Alsup, J. (2015). From the classroom to the keyboard: how seven teachers created their online teacher identities. International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning, 16(1), 142-167.

Samuel, T. (2014). Survival 101: quick tips for the novice online math instructor. Distance Learning, 11(2), 7-10.

Stake, R. E. (1995). The art of case study research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

NVivo qualitative data analysis Software; QSR International Pty Ltd. Version 10, 2012.

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants part 1. On the horizon, 9(5), 1-6.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.