| Using an explanatory design research approach, this dissertation examines the perceptions of online faculty who work in Washington state community and technical colleges, exploring their views in support of community-building among their online colleagues. Twelve community and technical colleges were randomly selected from the 34 such colleges in Washington state. All instructors, who were teaching at least one class online fall quarter at the selected colleges, were alerted to the study. A survey of 35 items was delivered to each instructor's email address via Web Q Catalyst, a web-based survey tool. Of the 800 faculty contacted, 328 responded including 200 females and 106 males. Respondents comprised an equal number of adjunct and full-time instructors, primarily over the age of 50 and experienced in online instruction.;Descriptive statistics and statistical tests were conducted on the data using SPSS. Results from the statistical tests indicated there were not any significant differences between the responses from full-time vs. adjunct faculty, or among the responses based on instructors' experience teaching online or their age. Significant differences were found between females vs. males on questions related to motivators, time, and interactions; and among program area faculty related to regularly scheduled community-building activities. Two faculty focus groups of online instructors were convened to secure their feedback on the survey results.;The results of this study suggest a strong agreement (87%) among all faculty on the value and importance of interacting with other online colleagues regarding effective online teaching practices. Responses varied as to how much interaction instructors were involved in, their level of interest in community-building activities, and the support they were receiving from their institution. Respondents had several suggestions for what colleges could do to support community-building among online teaching faculty. Suggestions included providing a strong e-Learning department, an active mentoring program, an opportunity for virtual connections, stipends for involvement, and regularly scheduled meetings. Besides offering instructors an opportunity to share pedagogy and best practices in teaching online, these suggestions, if implemented, would also help alleviate the sense of isolation that one-third of the respondents stated was present when teaching online. |
