Abstracts Education

A Study of Faculty Members’ Perceived Utilization of Best Practices in Distance Learning Course Design and Delivery and the Role of Instructional Designers

by Jiyu You

Best practices have been used in the establishment of distance learning programs for higher education. However, little is known about faculty members’ utilization of best practices in distance learning course design and delivery. Instructional designers play a critical role helping faculty members in the implementation of these best practices in the process of distance learning course design and delivery. The purpose of this study was to discover faculty members’ perceived utilization of the identified best practices and the role of instructional designers in the process of assisting faculty members to implement the best practices into distance learning courses. The results revealed that faculty members utilized these best practices in their distance learning courses; however, the degree of utilization differed. The study also revealed that instructional designers play a significant role in providing technical, administrative, and pedagogical support in the design and implementation of best practices. Analysis of qualitative data also revealed that faculty members wanted more pedagogical assistance. Statistical analysis indicated significant demographic differences regarding learner support, objective-driven design, active learning activities, academic dishonesty policy, student-student interaction, and reflective learning activities. Suggestions regarding the use of some of the evaluated best practices and approaches that instructional designers can adopt when working with faculty members were discussed. Finally, several topics for future studies were recommended.