244+James

Online Faculty Learning Communities: How Connected Do Adjunct Instructors Feel? || Robin James, Kaplan University, NY, United States, rjames2@kaplan.edu Drew Ross, Kaplan University, NY, United States, drewross2@kaplan.edu || This ongoing, small-scale, mixed methodology study seeks to examine the Online Faculty Learning Community (OFLC) model of professional development and how effectively it works in a fully online environment with mainly adjunct instructors (approximately 97%).
 * **Submission ID 244** ||
 * **Title**
 * **Presenter(s)**
 * **Description**

The presenters will share their findings from a study that focuses on two OFLCs in a Graduate School of Teacher Education. This work attempts to explore and create local meaning around the concept of connectedness. In this endeavor, the study follows a mixed methodology design based on focus group interviews with participating OFLC members. Rovai’s (2002) Classroom Community Scale was selected as a promising instrument for data collection, especially as it explicitly utilizes the concept of connectedness and links it to community building. Qualitative pre-post testing questionnaires (Lam & Bengo, 2003) and follow-up interviews with instructors offer the researchers a richer understanding of the learning community model’s success and challenges, especially from a phenomenological, audience-centered perspective.

Research Questions:
 * Is the Classroom Community Scale developed by Rovai (2002) an effective tool for measuring OFLC connectedness?
 * How does connectedness fit into a contextualized understanding the OFLC model of faculty development?
 * Pragmatically, what lessons can we learn from faculty that will help us build a stronger sense of community among adjunct instructors?

References:

Lam, T. & Bengo, P. (2003). "A comparison of three retrospective self-reporting methods of measuring change in instructional practice." //American Journal of// //Evaluation//, 24(1), 65-80. Rovai, A. (2002). "Development of an instrument to measure classroom community." //Internet and Higher Education// 5, 197-211. || General Session Forum All ||
 * **Notes & Comments**