Abstract
As online education continues to expand across varied educational sectors, so does the demand for professional development programs to guide academic teaching staff through the processes of developing their capacities to design and teach online courses. To meet these challenges at one higher education institution, a mixed methods research study was implemented to identify the professional learning needs of academic teaching staff for the purposes of developing a tailor-made professional development program. The principles of self-efficacy and threshold concepts were used to inform the design of the study. Data were systematically gathered from the participants to determine self-efficacy, concerns, and questions and experiences of academic teaching staff with online teaching. Findings revealed that academic staff held threshold concepts, skills and attitudes about online teaching. Three groups of staff were identified, all with varying forms of professional development requirements. This case study account demonstrates how an evidence-based project provided the basis for a research-informed institutional professional development program that is currently guiding academic staff through their development as online course designers and teachers.
Highlights
Online learning is widely regarded as necessary rather than optional in tertiary education
The data gathered have been used to inform the development of a professional learning program for academic teaching staff as they progressed in knowledge and self-efficacy in delivering online education
Threshold concepts about online teaching were identified in Phase 1 of the study, and threshold concepts and attitudes were identified in Phase 2
Summary
Online learning is widely regarded as necessary rather than optional in tertiary education. Academics require ongoing professional development, especially as they engage with the underlying threshold concepts (Meyer & Land, 2003, 2005) of online teaching which, once acquired, grant access to a greater mastery of the field. This paper focuses on the third phase of a research study that has identified the growing awareness of threshold concepts about online teaching by academics in a particular institution. The first two stages of the study identified key threshold concepts and investigated how academics began the process of understanding and applying them to their online teaching. The data gathered have been used to inform the development of a professional learning program for academic teaching staff as they progressed in knowledge and self-efficacy in delivering online education. The institution has enabled academic programs to design and deploy academic technology to optimize online learning and teaching
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