Date of Conferral

4-9-2025

Date of Award

April 2025

Degree

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.)

School

Education

Advisor

Jason Stroman

Abstract

Online teaching and learning are growing within higher education, and faculty require support and motivation to engage in professional development that provides training in transitioning from teaching face-to-face to online. The problem that was addressed through this project study was that few faculty members took advantage of the training in online pedagogical strategies at a midsized western state university (MWSU), despite survey results indicating that faculty wanted this training. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore online pedagogical strategies, training, and support faculty need and are willing to participate in at MWSU. Hall et al.’s concerns-based adoption model provided the conceptual framework to explore adopting innovations and integrating new learning as online teaching opportunities grow. For this basic qualitative design, semistructured interviews were conducted with a purposeful sample of 13 faculty from whom: seven faculty had expertise and three faculty were novices in teaching online. Axial coding was used to analyze core concepts with the following four themes emerging: barriers to teaching online, previous training faculty had received, additional training required, and motivation for faculty to participate in training. Results indicated that faculty would participate in online professional development which was flexible and shorter. Consequently, a 7-week, asynchronous online course was developed, focusing on online pedagogy, the use of the learning management system, tools and technology to be used, and course and assignment templates and examples, thus, supporting positive social change by improving faculty preparedness, strengthening university online offerings, and ultimately fostering a more effective and inclusive learning environment for students.

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