Faculty practices in successful asynchronous online distance education: A study within health education programs

This dissertation examines the best interactive practices of effective health care education faculty as identified from program directors to ascertain a descriptive analysis of the deliberate processes that they employ. The three questions that drive this research study are, How do successful online Distance Education faculty within university, college of nursing and health education, approach the fostering and development of interactivity in an asynchronous web based text learning environment?" What do successful online Distance Education faculties do to make their teaching more interactive? Are there different approaches to generate interactivity in different courses? The hypothesis influencing this research is that effective healthcare faculties deploy certain methodologies, practices and mindsets to generate interactivity in preactive phases and active teaching phases when utilizing online courseware as a backdrop shell portal. The samples for this research were faculty from six major universities that offer online health care programs. Program directors were contacted and requested to identify those faculty who facilitate effective interaction. Twelve faculty members were identified from one university and agreed to participate in an interview. Thirty faculty were identified in the same manner and contacted for participation in a Delphi study to identify and prioritize additional practices. The result is a list of 23 practice priorities that serve as an understanding of the interactivity that is generated by effective online faculty. These practices can maximize the learning and the online experience for students. They also serve as areas for consideration in the training of new and existing faculty to better the levels of interaction that they facilitate and employ in both the preactive and active teaching phases.