Quality Assurance Faculty Survey (2023-2024)

Faulty survey data:

Our campus developed a new survey as part of the SQuAIR effort to collect data from CSUF faculty about participation in professional development workshops related to online course design and teaching. The goal is to use these data to help plan future professional development and support offerings on campus by learning about faculty experiences. This survey was disseminated to all faculty during the Spring 2024 semester via an online link posted in the weekly Faculty Development Center newsletter. As of May 12, 2024, a total of 30 responses were obtained. The analyses and findings are summarized below.

Faculty teaching background and experience:

Of the 30 survey respondents, 20 (66.7%) had taught 1-3 online courses during the Fall 2023 and Spring 2024 semesters, 4 (13.3%) had taught 4 or more online courses, and 6 (20%) had not taught any online courses. As to faculty rank, 2 (6.6%) were either assistant or associate professors, 13 (43.3%) were full professors, 4 (13.3%) were full-time lecturers, and 11 (36.7%) were part-time lecturers. Finally, 2 out of the 30 faculty participants had more than one QM-certified course on campus, and one faculty member had one QM-certified course (23 had no QM-certified course, and the question had 4 missing responses). Descriptive statistics related to instructor teaching experience are presented below:

Finally, 21 (70%) had not taught any online course at CSUF prior to the transition to virtual instruction in Spring 2020 (pre-COVID), and 23 (76.7%) had not taught any online course at any other college or university prior to the transition to virtual instruction. Thus, most faculty who were surveyed had no online teaching experience before the pandemic, on our campus or elsewhere.

Faculty professional development:

90% of the survey respondents had participated in at least one on-campus professional development workshop focused on online/hybrid design or teaching (e.g., those through the CSUF Faculty Development Center), while 56.7% had taken advantage of similar professional development opportunities offered through the CSU Chancellor’s Office. Of these, 66.7% (20 out of 30) underwent such training after the pandemic (Fall 2021 or later). The distribution of the number of such trainings across all participants is included in the following two tables (both overall and post-pandemic).

Impact of the professional development on course redesign

Primary findings are summarized below.

Course Design Changes: 19 out of 30 (63.3%) of faculty mentioned that they had made significant changes to their online/hybrid courses as a result of the workshops they had attended. 7 (23.3%) had made minor changes, whereas 4 (13.3%) did not make any changes.

Types of Changes implemented by faculty members:

Assessment activities (developing and incorporating rubrics, for example),
Accessibility,
Better alignment of student learning objectives (SLOs) with different course activities and components,
Addition of more videos to aid student learning,
Inclusion of clearer guidelines for ease of course navigation,
Improvement of course readability and organization,
Use of discussion boards to boost interactions and active learning,
Design and implementation of “flipped” courses

Student Perceptions

Student Outcomes

Types of Student Outcome Improvements noted by faculty members:

Increased student engagement
Students’ appreciation for the variety of activities and technologies used in the course
Increased clarity of the assignments and grading rubrics
Increased student participation in activities like discussion forums
Improved quality of student work (discussion posts, presentations)
Improved grades and lower failure rates