Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Leadership and Change

COVID-19 changed how faculty members approached teaching in higher education in the United States. This study specifically looks at the changes in faculty-student interaction (FSI) during the COVID-19 pandemic. While extensive literature exists on the topic from the student perspective, the disruption in education necessitated a more extensive study of the faculty perspective. A multiple-case study methodology was employed to explore the experiences of a small cohort of faculty members at a single institution and how they fostered positive interactions with students from Spring 2019 through Spring 2023. The data collected included semi-structured interviews, course syllabi, teaching philosophies, and a pre-interview questionnaire with demographic data. The findings revealed that faculty initially faced hurdles engaging with students but swiftly devised strategies to adapt. Their approaches primarily emerged from internet searches and conversations with other faculty in their communities of practice. Additionally, faculty members who taught prior to the pandemic used their prior teaching experience but also credited having access to course materials designed for online learning as a strategy for positive interaction. Finally, returning to in-person teaching with social restrictions presented significant challenges in comparison to teaching online. A key implication for practice is requiring faculty to teach asynchronous courses periodically to ensure familiarity with best practices for online learning and access to updated teaching materials. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu).

Committee: Jon Wergin PhD (Committee Chair); Harriet Schwartz PhD (Committee Member); Kristan Cilente Skendall PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Art Education; Business Administration; Business Education; Communication; Curricula; Curriculum Development; Education; Education History; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Educational Sociology; Educational Technology; Gender Studies; Health; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Multicultural Education; Pedagogy; Public Health; Social Research; Teaching; Technology

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2010, EDU Policy and Leadership

A quasi-experiment was carried out in a college success strategies course to evaluate the impact of structured interpersonal interaction on undergraduate students' Academic Engagement and Academic Achievement. The course, EPL 259: Individual Learning and Motivation, employs a blended learning instructional model – Active Discovery and Participation through Technology (ADAPT; Tuckman, 2002) – that requires students to spend the majority of class time working independently on online activities. In the quasi-experiment, students in six treatment sections were exposed to some combination of two types of interpersonal interaction: Student-Student Interaction and Student-Instructor Interaction. Student-Student Interaction was facilitated in two different formats: (1) through in-class, cooperative learning activities, and (2) through online, asynchronous discussion board activities. Two sections of EPL 259 received the first Student-Student Interaction format, two sections received the second format, and two sections received neither format. In addition, in each of these three pairs of sections, one section also received Student-Instructor Interaction, facilitated through weekly, one-on-one meetings between each student and his or her instructor. The desired outcomes, Academic Engagement and Academic Achievement, were each measured in two ways. Academic Engagement was measured: (1) through analysis of data on students' course-related behaviors, including rates of attendance, tardiness, submission of assignments, and late submission of papers, and (2) through students' scores on a multifactor survey of course engagement. Academic Achievement was measured: (1) through total points earned on written assignments and online activities, and (2) through grades on the comprehensive final examination. A series of Analyses of Covariance (ANCOVAs), utilizing participants' Prior Cumulative GPA and measures of Conscientiousness and Extraversion as covariates, was carried out to assess (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Leonard Baird Ed.D. (Advisor); Wayne Hoy Ed.D. (Committee Member); Bruce Tuckman Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Psychology; Experiments; Higher Education; Teaching

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2022, Educational Studies

This study adopts Astin's (2003) IEO model, Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and Self-Efficacy (SE) Theory to examine the relationship among international students' self-efficacy, faculty interaction, and GPA as compared to their domestic counterparts (N = 332). This study offers a new perspective that examines this unique population from a personal and environmental lens using a secondary dataset from the Higher Education Research Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles. ANOVA mixed design repeated measure was utilized for the first research question to examine students' self-efficacy change from freshman to senior year. The results show that there was no statistically significant interaction between students' citizenship status and SE score F (1, 330) = 1.125, p = .290. The main effect of SE was statistically significant F (1, 330) = 10.481, p < .001, partial η2 = .031, indicating that, on average, both domestic and international students increased their academic SE scores from freshman to senior year. Multiple regression was utilized for the second and third research question with personal demographics (sex/citizenship) and environmental (student interaction with faculty) variables on student self-efficacy and GPA. Sex, citizenship, and faculty interaction scores were statistically significantly at α = .05 and predicted academic SE score in students' senior year, F (3, 331) = 16.716, p < .005. Female students, on average, had lower SE than male students. However, although sex and citizenship were not significant predictors of students' GPA, B = 0.02, t = 0.17, p = .86 and B = 0.13, t = 0.98, p = .33, respectively, students' interaction with faculty was a significant predictor of students' GPA, B = 0.03, t = 4.95, p < .001. Additionally, self-efficacy was tested for moderation effect between students' interaction with faculty and GPA, and it was not statistically significant, indicating that students' interaction with faculty did not depend o (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Jessica Logan (Committee Member); Tatiana Suspitsyna (Committee Member); Marc Guerrero (Committee Chair) Subjects: Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2019, Higher Education

African American faculty at predominantly White institutions face a conundrum. African American students experience an achievement gap and Student Involvement Theory suggests that faculty interaction has greater impact on student achievement than any other type of involvement. These faculty may feel an obligation to serve such students yet simultaneously feel disincentivized to do so in order to satisfy tenure requirements, which typically do not prioritize service. This study sought to discover how these faculty perceive this challenge within the context of campus racial climate. Campus Racial Climate was the conceptual framework and Critical Race Theory was the theoretical framework employed in this study. Information was collected by analyzing institutional documents, interviewing faculty, and conducting member-checking to verify accuracy. Three themes regarding faculty perceptions about student-faculty interaction emerged: Faculty Experiences, Student Rapport, and Institutional Milieu. This study also arrived at four key conclusions. First, homophily (gravitation toward those who share important social characteristics) influenced perceptions of student-faculty interaction more than campus racial climate. Negative campus racial climates have been noted to motivate African American student-faculty interaction and were believed to be a primary impetus for it. However, this study revealed that the motivation for such interaction exists whether the climate is positive or negative. Homophily, was perceived as having a constant and direct influence on views about student-faculty interaction while campus racial climate was regarded as having a contextual and indirect influence on the same. Second, campus racial climate did not directly influence views about African American student-faculty interaction. However, campus environment (without respect to race) and race (without respect to campus environment) did influence perceptions. Third, the ques (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Penny Poplin Gosetti Ph.D. (Advisor); Shanda Gore Ed.D. (Committee Member); Kevin Jordan Ed.D. (Committee Member); Ronald Opp Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: African Americans; Higher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2020, EDU Physical Activity and Educational Services

There has been an overabundance of research studies that have shown why Faculty-student interaction is beneficial for students, from higher academic performance to being more successful in life overall. Despite this, it is a struggle for those who work to get faculty involved with students outside the classroom, usually student affairs professionals, to find effective ways to get faculty to engage in various co-curricular initiatives. Some faculty pursue opportunities for this different type of relationship with students, while others do not for variety of reasons. There are also programs that tend to foster Faculty-student connection more than others, but it is rare for these programs and/or research to focus on the faculty perspective regarding why they continue to participate. Based on Cox's (2011) typology of Faculty-student interaction outside the classroom, this study will focus on faculty who would say they have experienced Personal Interaction with students. At this level, interactions became intentional and a “fundamental shift” happened in the relationship. Students realized they were valued by the faculty member as a unique individual and possibly even friend and knew that the faculty member had a genuine concern for their well-being and success (Cox, 2011, p. 52). For this study, I will employ phenomenological methodology to seek a deeper understanding of the lived experience of faculty members who indicate they have experienced Personal Interaction with students. By studying Faculty-student connection from the faculty perspective, my hope is to assist student affairs and academic affairs professionals in better understanding faculty motivations and needs when getting involved with students outside the classroom. This information can then assist them in designing intentional processes and programs that will encourage more Faculty-student connection. Final findings and implications will be discussed at the conclusion of the study.

Committee: Tatiana Suspitsyna PhD (Advisor); Colette Dollarhide PhD (Committee Member); Amy Barnes EdD (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Educational Theory

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2005, Education : Curriculum and Instruction

This qualitative case study of online teachers investigated ways that teaching online benefited face-to-face teaching for higher education faculty. 20 faculty responded to email, telephone, or personal interviews about these "reverse benefits." The details they provided were analyzed using grounded theory methodology to determine what kinds of benefits they experienced and how those benefits appeared to be related. Participants reported content, methodology, and personal adjustments, on a faculty level, that led to improvements in their face-to-face classes. Student level benefits focused on content access and, unexpectedly, increased interaction for face-to-face courses. The latter was somewhat surprising, since online teaching is often criticized for lacking the "interaction" of face-to-face courses. Findings from this study suggested a possible resolution to some of the seemingly irreconcilable polarization over the comparative quality of online and face-to-face teaching. This study's exploration of the move back to face-to-face teaching foregrounded methodologies and tools that worked in both environments. As a result it highlighted quality issues that applied to methodology in both contexts. In this study, teachers who expressed concerns about the online environment seem to have bundled pedagogy with the face-to-face environment. Comparisons are impossible when this is done because the two contexts are not the same. This study also raised questions about current online learning theories (interaction and social constructivism particularly) and opened possible research avenues for faculty development issues in higher education (online and face-to-face). This study suggests a need to investigate further how teaching online benefits face-to-face teaching. This could clarify the distinctions between and relative importance of content, pedagogy, methodology, delivery systems, and contexts in both online and face-to-face environments. This would further reduce the pre (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Janet Bohren (Advisor) Subjects: