Using an Online Curriculum Design and a Cooperative Instructional Approach to Orientate Adjunct Faculty to the Online Learning Environment

Abstract

The focus of this study was to develop an orientation program that would assist adjunct faculty to gain specific competencies to facilitate an online course. The orientation curriculum employed a set of guiding questions that focused on the intellectual, cognitive, and applicable skills adjunct faculty would need to facilitate an online course. To evaluate the effectiveness of the orientation curriculum design, a critical incident questionnaire (CIQ) was employed. The data indicated that adjunct faculty members (a) had problems navigating the learning management system (LMS) and other technologies used in the orientation, (b) were surprised by the depth and extent of the interactions that took place between instructor–student and student–student, and (c) were also surprised by the similarities between distance online education and traditional face-to-face facilitation processes. Faculty members also made a recommendation for higher education institutions to routinely provide orientation programs and provide ongoing professional development for all faculty types.

Keywords:

• adjunct faculty
• orientation
• cooperative
• experiential
• reflective
• coaching