| The purpose of this research investigation was to describe and understand the meanings of the socialization experiences of faculty members in the new instructional system of online distance education. Socialization research has been conducted in many fields and the focus of these studies has varied. The gap in socialization research of understanding the experiences of faculty members as they enter new instructional systems provided a unique opportunity for this case study. The conceptual framework for this study consisted of the merging of the three components of organizational socialization, including process, focus, and the unique dynamics of the system.;The study was conducted using a tripartite framework consisting of phenomenology, case study, and sociological tradition methods. Ten participants were selected by purposeful sampling. The four new members and six integrated members represented a total of seven colleges. Interviews, observation, and document analysis served as the methods of data collection. The constant comparative method was undertaken for data analysis and the results included five themes.;It was the purpose of this study to accomplish two tasks: describe the faculty experience of socialization in an online distance education system and understand what meanings faculty members attach to their descriptions. A descriptive structure of the online faculty member experience is provided. Further, five significant themes emerged representing the essence of the online faculty member experiences in this study. The five themes included: (1) The Fuel of Fire; (2) Cyber Values; (3) The Instructional Designer as Lifeline; (4) The Loss of Sight and Sound; and (5) Identity. |
