Implementing Effective Online Teaching Practices: Voices of Exemplary Faculty

This qualitative study explores the process of implementing effective online teaching practices through interviews with thirty exemplary instructors. Emergent themes include providing students with constructive feedback, fostering interaction and involvement, facilitating student learning, and maintaining instructor presence and organization. Analyses of the findings and implications for online instruction are presented.An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2004 Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education.Cassandra C. Lewis is a research assistant at the University of Maryland University College. She is also a doctoral candidate in the department of Education Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland, College Park. Husein Abdul-Hamid is Associate Provost and Executive Director of the Office of Evaluation, Research, and Grants at the University of Maryland University College. He holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from American University.     

Faculty at Mid-Career: A Program to Enhance Teaching and Learning

While the number of mid-career faculty currently in U.S. higher education is significant, professional development programming that addresses the teaching and learning issues of this population has not been a priority. This article describes the Mid-Career Teaching Program (MCTP) and presents data that assesses its impact on participants' professional and personal lives. Survey and interview results indicate positive changes in teaching behaviors and knowledge as well as an increase in teaching satisfaction and confidence. Faculty also reported that MCTP renewed their energy and enthusiasm and positively impacted their life outside of the academy.     

Understanding the Work and Perceptions of Teaching Focused Faculty in a Changing Academic Landscape

Teaching Focused Faculty (TFF) roles are growing across Canada and around the world, raising questions about how to understand the nature of faculty work and how faculty in non-traditional work distributions feel about their work. Our study is the first attempt to survey TFF members’ work and job attitudes at large research intensive universities in Canada. Our data contribute to the literature on the nature of faculty work, by revealing that TFF engage in a wide variety of work, including teaching, service, curriculum leadership, and often research in pedagogy and/or disciplines. TFF report mixed messages about what their departments and institutions expect of them. Our data also contribute to the literature on how faculty feel about their work. Consistent with other research on faculty job attitudes, TFF report valuing their jobs highly. Our data also reveal that feeling integrated into mainstream institutional culture is a particularly important contributor to this sense of value. Taken together, our findings can be used to inform the research literature on faculty work, as well as by administrators seeing to implement or enhance TFF ranks at their institutions.     

关于加强高校网络思想政治工作的思考

信息网络技术的发展对当代大学生产生了巨大影响，对高校思想政治工作提出了新的要求。高校必须让思想政治工作进入网络，不断加强和改进网络思想政治工作。     

高师数码钢琴集体课教学中若干问题的思考

随着科学技术的飞速发展以及各个高等师范院校音乐专业招生数量的逐年增加,多数院校都引进了数码钢琴集体课的教学。然而数码钢琴教学中存在若干有待解决的问题:数码钢琴的演奏特性问题,高师数码钢琴集体课教学的教学内容问题、教材选用方面的问题、学生的程度差异问题以及师资问题。     

我国高校大规模线上教学的阶段性特征——基于对学生、教师、教务人员问卷调查的实证研究

为了全面了解2020年新冠疫情期间我国高校的线上教学情况,厦门大学教师发展中心在线教学课题组展开了线上教学情况问卷调查,共有334所高校、13997名教师和256504名学生参加了此次调查。调查结果显示,我国首次大规模线上教学达到甚至超出了预期目的,是一次成功的在线教学实践,对后疫情时代高校信息化建设、实现线上与线下混合式教学具有重要的参考价值。但因疫情"倒逼",本次大规模线上教学在师生线上教学准备、教学平台支撑、教学平台的技术服务、学校提供的线上服务、线上教学模式和特点、线上教学效果、影响线上教学效果最主要因素、线上教学存在问题、师生在线上教学中面临的挑战、师生对线上教学的改进意见等诸多方面都留下了很多特定时期的阶段性特征。从长远来看,这些阶段性特征为后续持续深化教学改革留下了一系列思考的空间。面对这些具有"应急"色彩的阶段性特征,本文从后疫情时代教育信息化建设的角度,提出了需要正确处理的五个关系:计划与市场配置线上教学资源的关系、硬件建设与教学理念的关系、公平与效率的关系、不同主体认识与实践的关系、国内实践与囯际经验的关系。     

Developing and Supporting Faculty Training for Online Social Work Education: The Columbia University School of Social Work Online Pedagogy Institute

ABSTRACT

With the growth of online and distance education in social work, faculty training and support need to be provided to ensure high-quality online social work education. A model for training social work educators in online teaching is outlined that focuses on pedagogy, technology, and social work values. Columbia University School of Social Work’s Online Campus provides a five-week Institute on Pedagogy and Technology for Online Courses for prospective social work instructors. The Institute provides a faculty training model that can be adopted in other social work programs, and seeks to model best practices in online education.     

Teaching Clinical Social Work Under Occupation: Listening to the Voices of Palestinian Social Work Students

The authors were invited to teach clinical social work in the Palestinian West Bank. In order to teach, we designed a study exploring how 65 Palestinian social work students described the psychological and social effects of working under occupation. Students described social stressors of poverty, unemployment, lack of infrastructure, violence, imprisonment, separation of families, and severe constraints on travel. They identified depression, suicide, anxiety, and war-related trauma as emerging from these conditions. Many experienced the same psychosocial problems as their clients in coping with harassment and delays at checkpoints. Implications for teaching social work theory and practice are discussed.     

高校教师的“混合式学习”接受度及其影响因素研究——以北大教学网为例

以北京大学教学网为案例,对混合式学习的教师接受度进行了深入地研究。根据混合式学习及科技接受理论(TAM),研究者构建出了一个分析模型,包括技术特点、教师特点、课程特点、主观规范和服务品质特这五个维度,以认知有用性、认知易用性为中间变量,并以北大教师"使用意图"为因变量。通过定量分析,提出了影响北大教师接受混合式学习方式的诸种因素,并对混合式学习的推广与应用提出了若干建议。     

Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS): A Study of Academic Learning

The rapid growth of online learning has led to the development of faculty inservice evaluation models that are geared towards the demands of quality improvement of degree programs. Based on the best practices of student online assessment, the Online Faculty Development and Assessment System (OFDAS) created at the Canary Islands was designed to serve the dual purpose of faculty development and classroom learning environment assessment. Results of analyses showed that OFDAS maximized the potential of online faculty development to encourage staff to reflect on Curriculum and Teaching Capacities (CTC). Implications were discussed in terms of emphasizing the process of online CTC learning and incorporating perspectives to capture a comprehensive view of faculty teaching attitudes and their association with student classroom learning perceptions.     

An Introduction: Reimagining Social Work Education for the Digital Age

ABSTRACT

Despite the recent publication of a number of articles, along with current presentations at professional conferences, and a scholarly text all on the topic of distance learning and online social work education, many believe that the subject has not received the level of recognition among academics in our profession that it needs and deserves. This Introduction to a special double issue of a prominent peer-reviewed journal serves to welcome the reader to the contents of the seventeen articles that follow, and to provide both an overview and conceptual framework for the special issue as a whole. Underscoring both the opportunities and quandaries, support and resistance, most of the authors would appear to conclude that social work educators must rapidly become more agile in embracing the unique opportunities presented by the technology that we now have at hand.     

A Synchronous Online Social Work PhD Program: Educational Design and Student/Faculty Response

ABSTRACT

Faculty and students evaluate the curriculum design and delivery of a synchronous online PhD program in social work that prepares scholar-practitioners in social work research, education, and organizational practice. The designers envision a collaborative community of scholars and leaders nurtured by a cohort-based, sequenced curriculum, and intentional faculty mentoring. This teaching and learning platform provides an opportunity to engage with a globally diverse population of doctoral students while fostering both relationships and quality learning outcomes. Educational design and pedagogical features of the program are described and analyzed through the collaborative thinking and learning platform of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) model’s interdependent elements–teaching, cognitive, and social presence. Eighteen students and ten faculty evaluated the strengths and limitations of the online program across each dimension of the model through student course evaluations, focus-group reflections, and qualitative faculty survey data. Student and faculty respondents specified the benefits of synchronous presence across all three dimensions. They also identified significant barriers, particularly in the areas of teaching and social presence. Implications and recommendations are based on a review of findings that inform pedagogical decisions and design options for online PhD education in social work.     

浅谈高等学校的网上教学与实践

进入21世纪,随着计算机网络技术和Internet的不断发展,网上教学已成为一种先进、有效的教育教学模式．针对高等学校开展网上教学的可行性、具体方案及意义进行了系统的阐述．     

加强和改进教师思想政治工作的实践与思考

振兴民族的希望在教育，振兴教育的希望在教师。本文结合实际提出了加强和改进教师的思想政治工作要从加强机制建设、思想道德建设以及扩大民主、把解决思想问题同解决实际问题结合起来等几个方面着手。     

Effects of Academic Discipline and Teaching Goals in Predicting Grading Beliefs Among Undergraduate Teaching Faculty

Prior research reveals that differential grading patterns exist among the academic disciplines. One explanation may lie in discipline-related differences in teaching goals and beliefs about the meaning grades should convey. This study examined the effects of academic discipline and teaching goals on grading beliefs. A national sample (n = 442) of undergraduate teaching faculty provided responded to a survey measuring the importance of various teaching goals and orientations toward norm-referenced or criterion-referenced grading (Frame of Reference), and beliefs about using grades to sort and select students on the basis of achievement (Gatekeeping). Both teaching goals and academic discipline were significantly related to gatekeeping beliefs, but not to beliefs about frames of reference for grading. Higher gatekeeping scores were associated with faculty in the paradigmatic fields and those who emphasized analytic skills and time management. Lower gatekeeping scores were associated with the preparadigmatic disciplines and teaching goals of synthesis and integration and developing respect for others. Faculty who identified their primary teaching role as subject matter oriented were more gatekeeping than those who identified themselves primarily as being student/personal development oriented.     

Perceptions of Barriers Concerning Effective Online Teaching and Policies: Florida Community College Faculty

This study's purpose was to examine the perceptions of Florida's full-time community college faculty members who teach by distance learning concerning the ten policy areas set forth by Berge and Muilenburg (2000 Berge , Z. L. & Muilenburg , L. Y. ( June 2000 ). Barriers to distance education as perceived by managers and administrators . In M. Clay (Ed.), Distance Learning Administration Annual 2000 . Callaway Gardens , GA : Routledge . Retrieved May 3, 2001, from http://www.gl.umbc.edu/~berge/man_admin.html  [Google Scholar]). Focus group sessions indicated that faculty members felt certain barriers related to their online experiences. Faculty time and compensation, which deals with how much time faculty members spend and how much they are compensated, seemed to be the greatest barrier while access seemed to cause faculty members the least amount of concern. But factors such as training, size of the institutions, and complexity of the programs seemed to play a role in their perceptions.     

英语专业教学模式对学生就业思维的影响

近年来,我国社会经济格局发生了急剧的深刻变化,就业市场对大学毕业生的要求也发生了深刻变化。英语专业以纯文学为专长的毕业生面临的就业困难越加严重。学校为提高学生就业竞争能力想方设法调整课程设置;学生为满足就业需要学习了各种与英语语言文学专业相关或不相关的知识。但是,他们的就业前景仍然不乐观。笔者根据这些现象,分析目前学校的教学管理方式和教师的教学方法能否对学生就业能力产生的作用。论述了改变目前英语教学管理方式,改变教师的教学理念和教学方法的可行性,以利于培养学生的主动思考意识、知识扩展能力,为学生在今后的现实生活中实现自我发展奠定基础。     

FAST-Future Academic Scholars in Teaching: A High-Engagement Development Program for Future STEM Faculty

Doctoral granting institutions prepare future faculty members for academic positions at institutions of higher education across the nation. Growing concerns about whether these institutions are adequately preparing students to meet the demands of a changing academic environment have prompted several reform efforts. We describe a professional development model designed to prepare the future faculty to integrate the multiple components of academic careers. The program emphasizes the study and application of effective teaching practices centered on student learning and assessment and expectations for faculty careers. We describe the impact of the program on its participants.     

Teaching Diversity across Disciplines: Reflections from African-American Faculty in Four Different Academic Settings

The authors, male and female African-American faculty from different academic disciplines at predominantly white institutions, share personal reflections on their experiences teaching postsecondary graduate and professional courses that focus on diversity and multicultural themes. This article provides tools and strategies for improving the overall effectiveness for those who teach diversity courses from a framework the authors have codified as a “3-C” perspective: context, characters, and curriculum.