scholarly journals Adjunct Faculty Perceptions of Participation in Online Collaborative Research Teams

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Hartman ◽  
Danielle Kearns-Sixsmith ◽  
Patricia Akojie ◽  
Christa Banton

Career professionals who serve as adjunct faculty at the university level are expected to engage in continual research and publishing to maintain their status as adjunct (part-time) faculty, to be considered for potential advancement, and to qualify for additional compensation.  One way of meeting this objective is to participate in online collaborative research projects benefiting from a set of multiple lenses, multiple insights, and a multitude of considerations in regard to design, methodology, data interpretations, and broader reaching implications.  A narrative inquiry approach was applied to gain an in-depth understanding of the experiences of adjunct faculty working in online collaborative research teams. Data was gathered through phone interviews where adjunct faculty shared their personal experiences and reflections about working as collaborative researchers in an online environment. Using an inductive process, themes were drawn from the responses of the participants to address the research question. The dominant themes found were organizational skills, interpersonal skills, and personal growth and development. The results of the study led to recommendations for supporting adjunct faculty in online collaborative research for building a sense of scholarly community and expanding opportunities for personal professional growth.

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Burleigh ◽  
Patricia B Steele ◽  
Grace Gwitira

Objective: The purpose of this study was to understand what online adjunct faculty value as support services, specifically professional development opportunities, provided by their respective higher education institutions. Method: This qualitative narrative inquiry study centered on exploring perceptions and experiences of online adjunct faculty members from higher education institutions and their experiences and expectations of professional development (PD), prior to and during COVID-19. Results: The study resulted in the identification of possible improvements and enhancements to existing PD content that would further support faculty personal development, mental health, wellbeing, and academic growth. Conclusions: This study reminds us that there are numerous variables, including unforeseen crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, that need to be considered when developing, implementing, and presenting PD for online adjunct faculty professional and personal growth. Because faculty want to be listened to and heard, the PD development and implementation process needs to be interactive to support online adjunct faculty, regardless of whether the university is for-profit or not-for-profit. Implication for Practice: The results based on online adjunct faculty experiences could lead to updating professional development opportunities employed in different higher education institutions to promote faculty self-actualization and ultimately, student success.


Episteme ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Brad Wray

AbstractI evaluate the extent to which we could learn something about how we should be conducting collaborative research in science from the research on groupthink. I argue that Solomon has set us in the wrong direction, failing to recognize that the consensus in scientific specialties is not the result of deliberation. But the attention to the structure of problem-solving that has emerged in the groupthink research conducted by psychologists can help us see when deliberation could lead to problems for a research team. I argue that whenever we need to generate alternative solutions or proposals, groupthink is a genuine threat, and research teams would be wise to allow individuals opportunities to work alone. But the benefits of team work emerge when scientists seek to evaluate the various proposals generated, and determine a course of action. Then the group is less prone is groupthink, and the interaction of group members can be an epistemic asset.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-70
Author(s):  
Kerry Earl Rinehart ◽  
Judith Mills

We conclude this issue with some advice for teachers as researchers from members of the Division of Education staff at the University of Waikato along with some recommendations for helpful reference books. The emphasis of this article, in the words of four of the staff, is one of the support available to assist education researchers. Educational research is not conducted in solitary but by researchers within a variety of relational contexts. Therefore, University teachers and class peers, supervisors, members of collaborative research teams and journal editors can all provide support in a teacher- researcher’s research journey.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Priyanka Bhaskar ◽  
Padmalosani Dayalan

This paper aims to highlight the role of continuing education among the teachers of India. The study identifies factors which influence teachers in Higher education institutions (HEI) for continuing education. The paper also explores the impact of continuing education on career growth and development. A systematic survey was conducted among the teachers in Higher education institutions of Uttarakhand, India. Factor analysis is used to identify the important factors that influence teachers to enrol for continuing education. SPSS and AMOS are used to analyse the data. The findings of the study indicate that factors like time, financial support, job opportunities, knowledge, skills, and abilities play a detrimental role among teachers for continuing education. This study also reveals that continuing education has a positive impact on career growth and development of teachers. Continuing education helps the teachers to explore better career opportunities, provides job security, salary increment, and promotion which contributes to their professional growth and personality development. Continuing education in teachers demonstrates a significant role in the development of interpersonal skills, technical skills and inculcates self-confidence that contributes to their personal growth. The importance of paper increases amidst the COVID19 pandemic and the launch of the National Education Policy in India, as the paper will provide support to the Higher education institutes and Government to frame policies and strategies to imbibe continuing education as an integral part of the education system. The paper by enumerating its benefits, motivates the teachers to enhance their qualifications and enhance their future prospects.


Author(s):  
Susannah L. Brown ◽  
Jennifer Lynne Bird ◽  
Ann Musgrove ◽  
Jillian Powers

Reflective leadership stories from various fields including, instructional technology, education and humanities guide the reader to reflect upon practice. Leadership theories that support personal growth, caring, interpersonal communication, problem solving, and creativity are discussed (Bass, 2008). Furthermore, the authors describe how creative leaders can use Communities of Practice (CoPs) as a mechanism to share and build knowledge, solve problems, and foster professional growth and development.


Author(s):  
Paul Lauter

While increasing attention began to be focused a decade ago on the scandalous misuse of part-time or “adjunct” faculty in colleges, their use has persistently spread. In fact, new varieties of “temporary” positions continue to be invented by college managers. “Part-time” faculty now include some who teach what amounts to a full load, but who are paid on a credit hour or per course basis, others who scramble for one or two courses each term and are paid flat rates, as well as a few whose salaries and benefits are prorated fractions of those of a full-timer. But there are now many “off-tenure” full-time appointments as well: “lecturers,” whose contracts are renewed every year or two but who may remain in their positions, without tenure, indefinitely; “nontenure-track” instructors and assistant professors, who may stay at an institution for four, six or more years but who, at the point of a tenure decision, must move on; “replacement” appointments, who fill lines for a year or two and then migrate to similar positions elsewhere. I shall use the term “adjunct faculty” or “adjuncts” to describe this quite varied group of individuals, for while the word is not precisely appropriate in all cases, its dictionary definition calls attention to the fact that such faculty, while “joined or added” to the institution, are in critical ways “not essentially a part of it.” Handwringing over the plight of adjuncts has brought no relief, and even most union contracts have so far been marginally helpful. That should be no surprise, for the exploitation of adjuncts serves a number of crucial interests of college managers and of those to whom they report. It is important to identify these interests more clearly if the abuse of this large number of our colleagues is ever to be brought under control, much less halted. For the exploitation of adjuncts is not a function of managerial nastiness, nor is it—any more than was the War on Vietnam—an unfortunate product of historical “accidents.” Rather, it is rooted in a particular conception of college management designed to serve historically distinctive social and political interests.


Author(s):  
Debbie Powell ◽  
Roberta J. Aram

This chapter reports on a university short-term study abroad immersion experience in Costa Rica for preservice teachers. Qualitative data from instructors' field notes and participants' photo blogs, exit interviews, and formal course evaluations were analyzed for evidence of expressions of empathy for English Learners (ELs), resolve to use effective teaching strategies with ELs, personal growth and cross-cultural awareness. Findings show that participants demonstrated empathy that was linked to personal and professional growth as a future teacher. The course's design strategically causing authentic physical and emotional struggles similar to ELs' with purposefully facilitated reflection time to address feelings and experiences was effective in achieving overall course goals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 18
Author(s):  
Debra Lowe ◽  
Simmone La Rose ◽  
Nalisa Bhagwandin

This article provides an assessment of the pathways Librarians at the University of Guyana Library (UGL) explored to achieve continual learning for professional growth and self-development.The writers adopted a survey method to capture data from sixteen senior professionals from the University of Guyana Library. The findings revealed that while the University of Guyana Administration provided some avenues for professional growth and development for all professionals, there were some areas that required a more structured and equitable approach.  The findings indicated that much more can be done to facilitate growth and development for senior Library professionals, particularly in the field of Librarianship. From the discussions, the researchers concluded that in spite of the limited access to available resources, Library senior professionals actively pursued alternative avenues to enhance and advance learning. This was intended to acquire current knowledge and practice so that they may provide a higher quality of service to their clientele; further, their experience (in the process) will assist in enhancing their professional development and personal growth.


2017 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Napolitano ◽  
Karen V. Duhamel

Nursing students are largely excluded from travel-abroad studies because of demanding curricula, lack of time, and cost. A poll was conducted and distributed to bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) and master of science in nursing (MSN) students who participated in 8-day observational trips. Questions were framed around the themes of cultural awareness, global health care perspective, translating theory into practice, and personal and professional growth. The results were compared with traditional long-term study-abroad outcomes. Participants reported increased cultural awareness through personal interactions and personal growth through continued reflection. Perceived impact on nursing practice was rated as neutral, but narrative comments implied actual influence on practice.


2013 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia L. Knott ◽  
G. Steube ◽  
Hongqiang (Mason) Yang

The use of technology in universities and colleges is an issue of interest and speculation. One issue related to technology use in the classroom is sustainability of resources that support the technology. This paper explores faculty perceptions about technology use and sustainability in an east coast university. This university has initiated a new program that has been charged with the objective of creating and maintaining a sustainability program. The program is still being developed, but a few of the key goals are to look at recycling campus-wide, printing costs in the computer labs and library, and exploring what the faculty perceptions are about using technology in the classroom. This paper focuses on the last goal; and in order to explore this objective, a survey was administered to the Schools of Business, Health Professions, Arts & Sciences and the Library. The research question addressed in this paper is the relationship between the use of technology in the classroom and the course discipline of the faculty teaching the class. The faculty participants in the survey included four of its academic schools - Business, Health Professions, Arts & Sciences, and the Library. Consequently, there are four different faculty affiliations based on their school. The research questions related to school assignments presented in this paper: Are there significant differences in the use of technology based on the school in which the faculty member is associated? Do technology-driven programs in the schools of business and library science tend to perceive the use of technology in the classroom differently than other schools? Are differences in the school of affiliation reflected in faculty views of importance of technology to the learning process? Are differences in the school of affiliation reflected in faculty perceptions in the use of technology devices, including the desktop computers, iPad/Tablets, Laptops, Smartphones, or E-Readers? Do faculty affiliations with schools impact their view of the importance moving toward the use of electronic documents? Do faculty affiliations impact whether technology devices are viewed as distractions? Are sustainability enthusiasts also technology enthusiasts?


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