Case Study 2 - Faculty Presence in the Online Classroom


Laurie Hulcher
Assistant Director for Graduate Student Relations
Graduate School of Management and Technology
Published: July-August 2007

Category: » Fac-resources » Faculty-development

Introduction

At mid-semester, Dr. Gold receives an unexpected message from a student in his current online class: "I'm not sure you've noticed, but some of us are lost in this class, especially in the conferences…."

Looking Ahead

As you view this Video Case Study consider the following:

  1. What faculty-student interaction problems are demonstrated in this scene?
  2. What is the view of each participant?
  3. How should the situation be handled from this point forward?
  4. What recommendations do you have to lessen the chances that the situation will occur again?
  5. Which UMUC academic policy might this situation relate to?

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About the Author(s)

Laurie Hulcher, Assistant Director, GSMT, handles a vide variety of student communication, liaison, and case issues including student academic petitions and grievances. Within this role, she also provides guidance to faculty and graduate students on equitable processes for implementing the University's academic policies.  

Betsy Alperin, Assistant Dean, GSMT, manages faculty academic affairs. Her responsibilities include promoting programs to develop, reward, and retain faculty and enhance their effectiveness. She also teaches EDCP 100, Principles and Strategies of Effective Learning.

Heloisa Siffert, Senior Instructional Support Specialist, Center for Support of Instruction, develops and delivers faculty training programs, and collaborates with the academic units on online classroom setup, course design, and resolving technical issues. Her areas of expertise include graphic design and web development. 

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Comments

James Stewart -- Aug 7th 2007

UMUC GSMT policy basically requires a response to student questions within 24 hours. If complied with, it avoids problems like this one in the video. 85% of UMUC faculty are adjunct. I wonder how many hours per week I can expect them to spend on their courses. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I would use this information in refining the design of the course I manage.

Robert Goodwin -- Aug 7th 2007

James, you raise an important point about the expectations for adjunct faculty members. In the Graduate School where you and I both teach, there are specific policies setting forth the expected best practices for our teachers. In terms of the issues reflected in the video, for example, faculty are expected to be active in the conferences as well as answer questions promptly. I think the issue is less a particular standard for number of hours than making sure that everyone understands their full responsibilities and has a commitment to fulfilling those responsibilities. In my experience we have been extremely fortunate in attracting such faculty.

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