scholarly journals In Search of Pedagogies for Teaching Qualitative Research Online: A Vygotskian Approach

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 60
Author(s):  
Maja Miskovic ◽  
Elena Lyutykh

Little has been said on how to teach qualitative research in general and more recently on how to do so in online courses. Drawing on the cultural-historical theory of Lev Vygotsky and his followers, we engage with theoretical tenets that inform a design of an online qualitative research course in a private liberal arts university in the United States with large enrollments of doctoral students in leadership studies. Though examination of constructivist approaches to online education that are integrated within our classroom practices, we highlight unique challenges of teaching qualitative research online and offer insights to inform instructors of similar courses with intent to continue an important conversation about complexities of teaching qualitative research.

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 230-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Hass ◽  
Mathew Joseph

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine students’ perceptions of online vs traditional (face-to-face) course offerings at the business school of a liberal arts university in southwest USA. The research compares perceptions of students who have been subjected to online education along with those who have not been exposed to online education and examines likelihood to take online courses. Design/methodology/approach Paper and pencil surveys were distributed in different classes in business classes at a university in southwest USA. The target group was undergraduate students. Findings The results indicate that overall, students have neutral perceptions about online courses, while favorable perceptions are strongly associated with likelihood to take online courses. Moreover, prior exposure with online courses is not a significant factor in forming favorable perceptions about online courses. Research limitations/implications The present research is limited in generalizability and the institution surveyed in the southwest region is new to online courses offering in their curriculum and not all the participants had prior experience with online courses. Originality/value Although this paper compares online education with traditional, another option for methods of education include hybrid models incorporating both. A possible third option not discussed through this research is a hybrid or blended learning course, a combination of both online and traditional courses. This opens the options for the student, as hybrid courses can be built with many different options. One includes using technology for “screencasts” or lectures online.


2014 ◽  
pp. 829-839
Author(s):  
Andrew A. Tawfik ◽  
Carol Reiseck ◽  
Richard Richter

The case study describes the project management methods used in the implementation of a faculty development course at a small liberal arts university. The faculty development course, which was delivered online through the Learning Management System (Blackboard), not only provided faculty with technical competencies, but also a pedagogical framework for online instruction. As faculty members began to see the potential of using technology to overcome time and distance challenges, they became more interested in online education. To accomplish the project goals, the instructional design team created a detailed spreadsheet that outlined the design and implementation strategy for the initiative. Success criteria included increased demand and enrollment in the course, formal adoption of the professional development course as an institutional requirement, expansion of student enrollments in online courses, and student retention rates. The case study describes the unique project management considerations, documentation, and planning required throughout the project.


Author(s):  
Andrew A. Tawfik ◽  
Carol Reiseck ◽  
Richard Richter

The case study describes the project management methods used in the implementation of a faculty development course at a small liberal arts university. The faculty development course, which was delivered online through the Learning Management System (Blackboard), not only provided faculty with technical competencies, but also a pedagogical framework for online instruction. As faculty members began to see the potential of using technology to overcome time and distance challenges, they became more interested in online education. To accomplish the project goals, the instructional design team created a detailed spreadsheet that outlined the design and implementation strategy for the initiative. Success criteria included increased demand and enrollment in the course, formal adoption of the professional development course as an institutional requirement, expansion of student enrollments in online courses, and student retention rates. The case study describes the unique project management considerations, documentation, and planning required throughout the project.


Author(s):  
Elena Robles Mateo

This chapter describes FemTechNet, a case study that exemplifies the way in which an informal network of professional women can develop alternative dissemination formats for digital educational content. FemTechNet is an interdisciplinary and transnational network formed by women feminist scholars, educators, and artists mainly from North America, also Europe and Asia. Aiming to apply feminist principles to online education content on gender and technology, FemTechNet created in 2013 the DOCC, a feminist approach to collaborative open formats for online education, especially focused on feminism, new media, and liberal arts. While new formats of massive online courses perpetuate old patterns of hierarchical educational structures, this network aims to promote open pedagogic and inclusive content off and online by the collaboration of the different nodes implicated internationally. This chapter explores FemTechNet principles and methods that made from it a unique network that has successfully addressed contemporary problematics on open accessible content online.


2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-152
Author(s):  
Michael E. Meagher ◽  

This essay explores the sudden shift from residential higher education to remote learning in the United States, a consequence of the novel coronavirus. It is a personal account of experiences as a professor at a Midwestern university. Many instructors had no training in online teaching. For university faculty, Covid-19 meant having to transform courses from in-person instruction to a remote platform practically overnight. Among the student comments I received were that I managed the online transition well. Over the next academic year, 2020-21, universities face challenges in resuming on-campus teaching, and the possibility that a new outbreak of the virus might bring a repeat of the Spring 2020 semester. Although that possibility sounds dire, there is hope that the shift to remote learning may offer a silver lining in the form of expanding course offerings beyond geographic areas and reaching a wider audience. For liberal arts institutions that are struggling financially, a rise in the use of remote learning and online education may offer a new beginning, and for public universities, potential new revenue given declining state support, a silver lining.


2007 ◽  
Vol 14 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 61-77
Author(s):  
John Israel

AbstractYenching University did not exist in isolation but was part of several overlapping educational networks, international, national, sectarian, and local. Internationally, it was a modern Christian liberal arts university, comparable to Christian higher educational institutions in the United States and elsewhere in the world. Nationally, it was one of the colleges under the aegis of the United Board for Christian Higher Education in China and, more broadly, part of a modern higher educational network, centered in the large cities of eastern China. Locally, it was a component of a super-elite North China complex of higher education located in Beijing and Tianjin. This complex, as Yeh Wen-hsin has pointed out in her taxonomy of Republican-era higher education, stood in contrast with Guomindang universities such as National Central and Sun Yat-sen, as well as with teachers colleges, provincial universities, diploma mills, and other less renowned institutions.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana L Shreaves ◽  
Yu-Hui Ching ◽  
Lida Uribe-Florez ◽  
Jesús Trespalacios

This mixed-methods study examined faculty perceptions of online teaching at a mid-sized liberal arts university in order to understand faculty acceptance and participation in online teaching at the university. Seventy-nine participants responded to a survey that collected qualitative and quantitative data. Content analysis examined faculty perceptions of online teaching and identified six themes. An examination of 21 quantitative factors identified 17 factors reported by more than 50% of respondents to influence their decision to teach or not teach online. Study participants perceived online learning as attractive to students but they wanted any online courses carefully regulated, in part because online learning was seen as contrary to their teaching values. Participants were influenced by personal preferences but also the desire for robust faculty resources, and more effective technology and infrastructure. Implications and directions for future research were discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 ◽  
pp. 85
Author(s):  
Manini Ojha ◽  
Mohammad Arshad Rahman

Education has traditionally been classroom-oriented with a gradual growth of online courses in recent times. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically accelerated the shift to online classes. Associated with this learning format is the question: what do people think about the educational value of an online course compared to a course taken in-person in a classroom? We address this question and present a Bayesian quantile analysis of public opinion using a nationally representative survey data from the United States. We find that previous participation in online courses and full-time employment status favor the educational value of online courses. We also find that the older demographic and females have a greater propensity for online education. In contrast, highly educated individuals have a lower willingness towards online education vis-à-vis traditional classes. Regional variations in the propensity to value online classes also exist. Besides, covariate effects show heterogeneity across quantiles which cannot be captured using probit or logit models.


Author(s):  
Michael S. Hoffman

In the past decade, enrollments in distance education, and specifically online education, have grown dramatically in the United States. According to the 2009 Sloan Report (), enrollments in online courses increased from 9.6% of total postsecondary enrollments in 2002 to 25.3% in 2009. Unfortunately, a number of barriers exist that may result in an inability of higher education institutions to provide quality online education programming in sufficient scale to meet the expected student demand. The Managing Online Education report () identifies the resistance of faculty towards teaching in an online environment as foremost among ten factors that “impede institutional efforts to expand online education programs” (p. 1). An understanding of the factors that both motivate and discourage faculty member participation in online education programs is critical if institutions are to leverage their existing faculty to meet the current and future demand for online education. This case study first presents a number of motivating and inhibiting factors and then discusses how St. Bonaventure University leveraged these factors in an attempt to boost faculty participation in online education.


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