| The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of full-time faculty in traditional face-to-face universities about teaching online doctoral courses in higher education and/or related fields for a for-profit, online institution. Thus, a phenomenological research design was selected as the most appropriate design for this study. The population for this study was drawn from faculty members employed at traditional face-to-face institutions and teaching as adjuncts at an online institution. The participants, 13 faculty members, were purposively sampled from accredited postsecondary institutions offering online doctoral degrees in higher education and/or related fields which employ faculty who are full-time at a traditional university. After completing the informed consent form and a brief demographic survey online through SurveyMonkey(TM), participants were interviewed via telephone or Skype(TM) with an interview protocol consisting of 12 semistructured, open-ended questions. Interviews were transcribed, and participants' responses were analyzed using phenomenological analysis as delineated by Moustakas for discovery of emergent themes. Eight overarching themes were revealed, representing the essence of full-time faculty members' perceptions of teaching online at the doctoral level: positive and effective experiences, online doctoral education advantages, face-to-face advantages, faculty commitment, deficient interpersonal connections, online doctoral students' lack of preparedness, effective online but need additional resources, and the virtual revolution. The positive and effective experiences theme produced two subthemes: effectiveness and online stigma. The online doctoral education advantages theme produced three subthemes: flexibility, accessibility, and institutional growth and return on investment. The faculty commitment theme produced three subthemes: faculty-student communication, faculty engagement, and timely and quality feedback. All of the participants in this study stated that they used an assortment of instructional tactics to ensure doctoral students' success online, and that the participants recognized the many challenges of teaching in this educational modality. The knowledge gained from this study may be useful to university administrators making critical decisions on whether to offer an online doctoral degree at their institutions. |
