Teaching in Graduate Distance Education: Perspectives on Evaluating Faculty Engagement Strategies.

Abstract

To mitigate the effects of transactional distance, it is incumbent upon online instructors to intentionally and thoughtfully incorporate and implement strategies that will create a successful learning environment, keep learners motivated, and provide a rewarding learning experience where learners feel supported, valued and connected. The authors, both of whom are long-standing faculty coaches and instructors at Northcentral University, have developed a tool that can be used to evaluate faculty engagement and can be applied both as an assessment tool and a tool for faculty self-reflection. This report begins by introducing the current landscape of online learning and the critical need for students to remain engaged. The discussion then moves to a theoretical framework for the paper and an overview of current theoretical best practices about distance pedagogy. The final section of the report constitutes a practical overview with a specific focus on a tool developed by the authors to evaluate instruction and engagement strategies in online graduate/higher education. This tool is designed for general applicability to other online contexts, serving as a discussion point around critical areas in the evaluation of online faculty engagement strategies.

Keywords: online learning, distance learning, higher education, graduate distance education, student learning, student engagement, faculty engagement strategies, multimodal engagement, teaching through engagement, evaluation of online teaching, evaluation of engagement strategies