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The perceived barriers of nursing faculty presence in an asynchronous online learning environment: a case study

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The perceived barriers of nursing faculty presence in an asynchronous online learning environment: a case study

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Content PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 1 THE PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE IN AN ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: A CASE STUDY by Cheryl Ann Keel A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC ROSSIER SCHOOL OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION December 2017 Copyright 2017 Cheryl Ann Keel PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 2 Acknowledgements My dissertation is a culmination of three wonderful challenging years of learning. The doctoral program was my first exposure to the field of education. As a nursing professor, I knew how to teach nurses, and how to be a nurse. But, what was missing, was the deeper understanding of learning, the best practices and pedagogy needed to educate students. There were many “first” in these three years at the University of Southern California (USC). Learning theories, gap analysis, educational research, educational development theories, etc. were all new and exciting. All of this new information created a steep learning curve, that was embraced with the very same excitement, that I had for my first nursing school course twenty-nine years ago. As a nursing professor, I believed that my students’ educational experiences would be enhanced by my pursuit of a doctorate degree in education. The three years spent at USC did not disappoint me. The program was a rich environment of learning and experiences full of new concepts and ideas. Now, the love of nursing has to share the spot light in my heart as I embrace a new love of the field of education. The pursuit of this new love and the completion of my degree would not have been possible without God. His unwavering love and guidance is what gives me strength. Without Him none of this would be possible. My faith kept me strong when I wanted to give up, when I thought I did not have anything left to continue on, when I thought I needed a break, all obstacles were in my way. Because of Him this is all possible and I am truly thankful. Additionally, I would like to acknowledge several key individuals, who were essential in helping me accomplish my goal of obtaining my doctoral degree: First, I would like to thank Larry, my husband, companion, best friend, my forever love, the one who always has my back, and is always there when I needed to vent or decompress. Secondly, I would like to sincerely PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 3 thank Isabella, my beautiful first born, who has grown up to be such an amazing person who took all of the missed soccer tournaments, school events, and missed bed time discussions in stride. Third, I would like to thank Sophia, my little sweet girl who was a constant welcomed distraction, and who reminds me daily “You have been in school my entire life (11 years)” Close, my sweet girl, two years for the master’s degree and 3 for the doctorate, but you took it all in stride and are truly an amazing girl. Finally, I would like to thank Mammacheek, my mother, my rock, unconditional supporter, mentor, hero, and the person who know will always pick me up when I fall. I could not have done any of this without her support. I watched this amazing lady obtain her bachelors, two masters, and doctorate degree all while working 2 jobs during my childhood. Divorced my father when I was 6 years old and on her own, I still don't know how she did it—I think she cloned herself. My mother gives me the passion for nursing, nursing education, leadership, and the confidence to pursue all of my dreams. My friends were also important in helping me accomplish my goal. They are always there to lend a hand when there was a need and sometimes when I didn’t realize there is a need. They were always there to support me with kids and anything that came up. They always came to the rescue. My dissertation writing buddies, you are amazing, we did it!! You were always there for a writing session throughout the 3 years. You made a laborious task quite pleasant. My dissertation chairs, Dr. Tobey, Dr. Crispen, and my committee member Dr. Stowe, thank you for your support and feedback. This dissertation would not be possible without my support system. Thank you for assisting me in accomplishing my goal of obtaining a doctorate degree. I am forever grateful. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 2 List of Tables 6 List of Figures 7 Chapter One: Overview of the Study 9 Background of the Problem 11 The Statement of the Problem 13 Purpose of the study 15 Significance of study 16 Significance to Nursing Education 17 Theoretical Framework 17 Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework 19 Assumptions 20 Scope 21 Limitations 22 Delimitations 23 Definition of terms 23 Organization of the study 25 Chapter Two: Literature Review 26 Literature Review Process 26 Evolution of Distance Education and Online Learning 27 The Growth of Online Education 28 Asynchronous and Synchronous Online Medium 30 The Influences of Teaching/Faculty Presence 32 Barriers to Faculty Presence 34 Faculty Development Barriers 34 Motivational Barriers 35 Technology Barriers 36 Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework 37 Cognitive Presence 41 Social Presence 42 Teaching Presence 43 Teaching Presence Scale (TPS) 44 Design and Organization 45 Facilitating Discourse 46 Direct Instruction 47 Summary 48 Chapter Three: Methodology 50 Research Design and Method 50 Setting and Participants 53 Setting 53 Description of the Sample-Study Participants 53 Instrumentation 54 Survey 55 Interviews 55 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 5 Data Collection 56 Data Analysis 57 Ethical Considerations 58 Credibility and Trustworthiness 59 Summary 59 Chapter Four: Findings 61 Description of the Sample – Study Participants 63 Analysis of Data 64 Data Collection 64 Data Analysis 65 Presentation of Results and Findings 65 Description of Study Participants 65 Participant Educational Experience 67 Analysis: Mixed Method Study 67 The Challenges to Faculty Presence 75 Theme Development 76 Themes 77 Realism 77 Utilization of Technology 81 Faculty Development 83 The Perceived Challenges of Faculty Presence and Demographic Factors 85 Summary 89 Chapter Five: Discussion of Findings 91 Summary and Findings 93 Research Question 1 94 Research Question 2 94 Research Question 3 97 Limitations 98 Implications for Practice 99 Implications for the Nursing Profession 99 Implications for Online Nursing Education 100 Implications for Administrators and Faculty 100 Implications for Healthcare Organizations Employing Nursing Graduates 100 Recommendations for Future Research 101 Conclusion 102 References 105 Appendix A: Permission to Use Community of Inquiry Framework Diagram 116 Appendix B: Permission to Modify the Teaching Presence Scale by Garrison 117 Appendix C: Permission to Use Modified Teaching Presence Scale by Kuhns 118 Appendix D: Research Study Matrix 119 Appendix E: Informed Consent and Interview Protocol 121 Appendix F: Institutional Review Board 124 Appendix G: Survey Informed Consent 125 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 6 List of Tables Table 1: Summary of Participant Demographics Including Percent and Numbers 66 Table 2: Summary of Participant Faculty Development/Online Educational Experience 67 Table 3: Design and Organization TPS Questions 68 Table 4: Design and Organization 69 Table 5: Design and Organization Scale 69 Table 6: Facilitating Discourse TPS Questions 70 Table 7: Facilitating Discourse 71 Table 8: Facilitating Discourse Scale 71 Table 9: Bonferroni Analysis 73 Table 10: Direct Instruction TPS Questions 73 Table 11: Direct Instruction 74 Table 12: Direct Instruction Scale 74 Table 13: Online Teaching Experience of Interview Participants 76 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 7 List of Figures Figure 1: Community of Inquiry Framework. Reproduced with permission from D. R. Garrison (Appendix A) 19 Figure 2: Mixed-method research design 52 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 8 Abstract This mixed-study descriptive case study applied the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, to determine the influential relationship between the perception of the importance of faculty role in facilitating faculty presence in online nursing programs, and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between the perception of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Further, this study sought to determine if a relationship existed between perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic variables. The Teaching Presence Scale was administered to samples of part-time and full-time faculty for quantitative data. A follow-up interview was done with a representative sample of faculty. For the quantitative portion of the study, the analysis included independent samples t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The inferential analysis revealed a significant difference among one variable associated with the years of academic teaching experience and facilitating faculty presence on the Facilitating Discourse scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). Therefore, the research demonstrates the differences associated with the relationship between the years of experience and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence. Additionally, four major themes emerged from the qualitative data. Findings from this study indicated that not all faculty experience the sense of faculty presence in the same way, while the effort students make in class significantly influences faculty presence and motivation in the online learning environment and finally, faculty development enhances the experience of faculty presence in the online learning environment. The study began to bridge a gap between the importance of faculty presence and the online environment. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 9 CHAPTER ONE: OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY The attributes of higher education have been changing for over the past decades, and in the 21st-century, academicians are called upon to be proactive, innovative and develop flexible modes of teaching and adapt to new ways of working together to effect change in academic institutions. There are economic pressures on universities for cost containment, to attract wider groups of diverse students, and to offer more non-traditional larger classes. This means that diverse pedagogical strategies and methods of teaching online are being adapted to engage students. In this context, faculty may not be fully prepared to face such challenges and may struggle to meet the demands of faculty presence in the developing online classroom. Parallel to the educational changes was the rapid advancements in technology and the evolution of the Internet, which is having a significant impact on higher education, enabling the rapid growth of online teaching and learning at colleges and universities (Williams & Goldburg, 2005). In this study, an online class was defined as a course where more than 80 percent of all content is delivered online, and there are typically no face-to-face meetings with instructors (Lytle, 2011). In fact, in 2010, at least 30% of all higher education students were enrolled in at least one online course (Allen & Seaman, 2010). Further, 89% of four-year public colleges and universities offer online courses according to Taylor, Parker, Lenhart, & Patten (2011). Over 6.7 million students were taking at least one online course during the fall 2011 term, an increase of 570,000 students over the previous year (Babson Survey Research Group, 2012). According to Lytle (2011), of all the disciplines, the health profession appears to be the fastest growing in online education. The increase of students in online classes, as well as the establishment of the online method of delivery, have prompted researchers to reevaluate the role of the instructor and the student in the simulated asynchronous classroom environment. This PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 10 need is based on the increasing use of the asynchronous online teaching and learning methods in nursing programs, to supplement the need for more highly educated nurses. According to the Institute of Medicine's (Institute of Medicine [IOM], 2010) report, The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health, a major strategy for improving health care lies in the production of more highly educated nurses. The IOM recommends increasing the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80 percent by 2020. The current nursing workforce falls far short of these recommendations with only 55% of registered nurses prepared at the baccalaureate or graduate degree level (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2015). Responding to this increased demand for online nursing education, researchers have paid particular attention to assessing how various instructional features, strategies, and formats affect the students' learning experiences. One such feature is teacher/faculty presence in the online environment. Presence is described as the way in which humans interact with each other (Casey & Kroth, 2013). Social presence is “the degree to which a person is perceived as ‘real’ in mediated communication” (Gunawardena, 1995, p. 151). The impact of faculty presence resulting in low satisfaction survey scores (65%) in a school of nursing was the impetus for conducting this study. Numerous barriers to online education have been studied. According to Gunawardena (1995), the concept of social presence has been extensively addressed in the literature (Kehrwald, 2008; Tu & McIsaac, 2002; Caspi & Blau, 2008). Alternatively, faculty presence has been less studied and is important for the creation and promotion of cognitive exchange within the online academic environment (Richardson & Swan, 2003). The literature noted that faculty development, support, motivation, technical support, and amount of time invested in developing PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 11 courses are significant barriers to online education (Nelson & Thompson, 2005). There is a need to study and explore the perceived barriers of faculty presence in an asynchronous online learning environment in schools of nursing. This need is based on the increasing use of the asynchronous online teaching and learning methods in nursing programs. A mixed method design is chosen for this case study. The aim of this study is to understand the perception of faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment in a school of nursing at a public state university in southern California. Additionally, the researcher will explore the perceived barriers of faculty presence within the context of the asynchronous online environment, in a school of nursing at a public state university in southern California. Background of the Problem The mediated nature of online learning hinders the development of a sense of belonging with other students and instructors which social theories suggest support learning (Swan & Shih, 2005). Most of the recent studies have focused on the relationship between online teaching practices and how they engendered student engagement. There is limited research on how faculty members are present in their online course. According to Cobb (2011), there is a direct relationship between student presence in the form of faculty presence, interaction and engagement as predictors of perceived learning (Richardson & Swan, 2003; Yen & Abdous, 2011). Because of this direct relationship between faculty presence and perceived learning, it is incumbent upon this researcher to explore the perceived barriers of faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment. The composition of the nursing population is changing, and nursing educators must adapt to new ways of teaching to affect change in the nursing profession. Currently, institutions are now requiring nurses to have higher degrees such as their bachelors and master’s degree and PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 12 nursing schools are looking to online programs to meet these requirements. In addition, the U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs), that is expected to intensify as Baby Boomers age and the need for health care grows. Compounding the problem is the fact that nursing schools across the country are struggling to expand capacity to meet the rising demand for care given the national move toward healthcare reform (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014). The American Association of Colleges of Nursing projected that there would have been a 2.6% increase in entry-level baccalaureate nursing programs (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2014). This increase could not sufficiently meet the projected demands for future nursing services. With the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in 2010, more than 32 million Americans gained access to healthcare services, including those provided by RNs and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs) (American Association of Colleges of Nursing 2014). Compounding the nursing shortage is the nursing faculty shortage. The national nursing faculty shortage is a major issue and poses a significant threat to the educational infrastructure of health professions. Currently, there is an 8.1% national nursing faculty vacancy rate which causes over 75,000 qualified applicants to be turned away from nursing programs in the United States each year (Nardi & Gyurko, 2013). The significance of addressing this problem was that more than two-thirds of nursing schools have reported that the nursing faculty shortage is the primary reason for denying qualified applicants into nursing programs (American Association of Colleges of Nursing, 2013). Further, the nurse faculty shortage limits the ability of the nursing workforce to respond to the demands, of the evolving health care system, especially the increasing elderly population (Byrne & Martin, 2014). PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 13 The Statement of the Problem In this section, the statement of the problem was presented along with the results obtained from a school of nursing satisfaction survey with scores relating to faculty presence, engagement and interaction. This section focused on the connection of faculty/teaching presence to student satisfaction and quality online environments. Currently, only 65 percent of students were satisfied with faculty engagement, interaction, and presence in a school of nursing at a public university. As online education expands, academic institutions needed to call attention to the quality of education they are providing. It was important to solve this issue of low faculty presence in the online environment because there is a direct relationship between social presence in the form of faculty presence, interaction and engagement as predictors of perceived learning, which was linked to positive learning outcomes (Cobb, 2011). Additionally, O’Reilly (2011) found that there is a positive relationship between faculty engagement and presence with quality online instruction. The educational problems that the researcher explored through this research were the identification of perceived barriers in nursing faculty presence and the understanding of the causes for these barriers in the asynchronous online learning environment. Enrollment in online learning is rapidly increasing (Croxton, 2014; Chen, Lambert & Guidry, 2010), making the issue of quality online learning environments one of importance to instructors and administrators. The growth of online learning underscored this need for quality programs. According to a 2012 survey report based on responses from over 2,800 academic leaders, more than 6.7 million students—32 percent of total higher education enrollment—took at least one online course through a university during fall 2011. This was an increase from roughly 6.1 million students the year prior. Schools seemed to be responding to that demand, with 62.4 percent of the colleges PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 14 surveyed in 2012 offering fully online degree programs, compared with just 32.5 percent in 2002 (Babson Survey Research Group, 2012). Because of this surge in online programs, it is imperative that the issue of faculty presence as it relates to student satisfaction be addressed. The results obtained from this research helped to identify perceived barriers related to faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment and provide best practice guidelines for increasing faculty presence there by increasing quality indicators. Moreover, the results of this research provided guidance for alleviating the problem of low satisfaction scores related to faculty presence in online teaching and learning. In this section, the statement of the problem was presented, the issue of faculty presence was explored as it related to being a predictor of perceived learning. The issue of increasing online programs was stated. The growth of online learning underscored this need for quality programs. The problem was significant to nursing education because of the increasing shortage of nurses and nursing faculty. Because of this shortage of nursing faculty and registered nurses, educational institutions are increasing their use of online classes as well as the establishment of virtual classrooms. The increase of students in online classes, as well as the establishment of a virtual classroom, have prompted researchers to reevaluate the role of the instructor and the student in the relatively new and simulated classroom environment. The U.S. is projected to experience a shortage of Registered Nurses (RNs) that is expected to intensify as Baby Boomers age creating the massive need for health care. Because of this explosion in online teaching and learning methods, it was imperative that the concept of faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment be studied. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 15 Purpose of the study In this section, the purpose of the study was presented along with the aims and research questions. An overview of the methodology, data collection and analysis was also presented. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between the perception of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Further, this study will sought to determine if a relationship existed between perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic variables. The aim of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between the perception of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Further, this study will sought to determine if a relationship exists between perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic variables. The impact of faculty presence resulting in low satisfaction survey scores was the impetus for conducting this study. The three research questions guiding this study are the following: 1. What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? 2. What are the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? 3. Is there a relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic factors among the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in California? PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 16 Significance of study The educational problem that the researcher understood through this research study, was the perception of faculty presence and, the identification of perceived barriers in nursing faculty presence. Additionally, this researcher sought to understand the causes for these barriers in the asynchronous online learning environment. The focus of the problem of study was nursing faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment at a public school of nursing. This problem was revealed by the results of 2014 and 2015 Student Satisfaction Survey, in a school of nursing, at a state university in southern California. The results of this survey show that only 65 percent of students were satisfied with the nursing faculty engagement, presence, and interaction in the asynchronous online nursing courses. When reviewing the scores for students on satisfaction with faculty engagement, presence, and interaction in the asynchronous environment, it was revealed that they fell far below the 90 per cent goal that was previously set. The proposed school of nursing was committed to exploring the factors that influence student dissatisfaction with faculty presence, as the faculty and director believed it contributed to their enrollment numbers. This school of nursing was also committed to providing quality nursing education as it prepares registered nurses for roles that focus on prevention, critical thinking, health, and wellness. According to the school’s philosophy, this preparation was done through the provision of curricula focused on presenting quality online education. Cobb (2011) found that curriculum that is explored in an environment that supports social presence in the form of faculty presence, is highly correlated to student satisfaction. As noted earlier, enrollment in online learning is rapidly increasing (Croxton, 2014; Chen, Lambert & Guidry, 2010), making the issue of quality online learning environments one of importance to instructors and administrators. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 17 Significance to Nursing Education The main purpose of this research was to explore the concept of faculty presence, discover perceived barriers to faculty presence in the asynchronous online learning environment, and document the need for change. This researcher believed that this study will contribute significantly to the discipline and science of nursing and nursing education in the areas of online distance education, faculty development, and utilization of technology in online programs. Additionally, the researcher also believed that the results of this study would provide a foundation and framework that facilitated and enhanced faculty presence in the online environment. Faculty, administrators, nursing directors, future employers hiring nursing graduates, nursing students, internal and external stakeholders and the community expect well- prepared graduates to function in the 21st century health care environment. Managers in healthcare facilities expect nursing graduates to function successfully in the nursing profession. The results of the study guided practices for faculty teaching in undergraduate and graduate asynchronous online programs. Recommendations were made for further research in nursing to better understand faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment. Theoretical Framework The Community of Inquiry (CoI) is a constructivist theoretical framework developed by Garrison, Anderson & Archer (1999) provided the guiding framework used to determine the influential relationship between teaching presence in the form of faculty presence and its influence on student outcomes (Figure 1). The Community of Inquiry integrates the elements of social, cognitive, and teaching presence that extends beyond cognitive interaction and social exchanges in the online learning environment. The recent literature supported the premise that faculty should consider the learner’s personal world (insightful and meaning-focused) and the PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 18 shared world (knowledge-focused and collaborative) in order to cultivate a structured purposeful learning environment (Carlon, et al., 2012; Stephens & Hennefer, 2013). Garrison’s, et al., (1999) landmark article laid out the conceptual framework that identified the essential prerequisites for the successful higher educational experience within the online learning environment. Worthwhile online education is composed of the essential components within the Community of Inquiry in which faculty and students are integral participants in the educational process. The CoI framework assumed that learning within the community consists of the interaction of fundamental elements, which are identified as cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 2000). The nature of learning is greatly affected by the social context of the online learning environment. This social context in the form of community promotes higher-order thinking among students. The educational experience in the community of inquiry is an essential component of the educational experience that fosters the facilitation of deep learning and critical thinking (Carlon, et al., 2012; Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 1999). PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 19 Figure 1. Community of Inquiry Framework. Reproduced with permission from D. R. Garrison (Appendix A) Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework Cognitive presence is noted as the most basic to the success of higher education. Cognitive presence is described as “the extent to which the participants in any particular configuration of a community of inquiry are able to construct meaning through sustained communication.” (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999, p. 89). This vital element is often presented as an ongoing goal of higher education. The second essential element of the framework is social presence defined as “the ability of participants in the CoI to project their personal characteristics into the community, thereby presenting themselves to other participants as ‘real people’.” (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999, p. 89). Social presence indirectly supports cognitive presence by facilitating critical thinking of the community of learners (Akyol, et al., 2010). It was noted that social presence is highly correlated to educational success in online education. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 20 The third fundamental element in the CoI model is teaching presence, which was the focus of this study and was used synonymously with faculty presence. Anderson and colleagues (2001) described this element as having three categories - design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction (Anderson, et al., 2001). Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (1999) also stated that this element has two purposes- design and facilitation, both of which have two functions. The first function is the educational experience design, which includes organization, selection, and presentation of the course content. The development of assessment and learning activities is seen within this function. The second function of teaching presence is facilitation, this may be seen within the teaching element or among other participants within the online environment. The literature concurred with this notion of teaching presence as having three categories, which consisted of design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction (Anderson, et al., 2001). Many researchers agreed with Anderson, et al (2001, p. 3) that “it is the teacher’s responsibility to precipitate and facilitate learning that has a purpose and is focused on essential concepts and worthwhile goals” (p.3). Teaching presence was seen as one of the essential components that supported both cognitive and social presence as students realize educational outcomes within the online learning environment. Teaching presence involved the integration of social and cognitive elements within the educational online environment. Within this environment, the components of the CoI can enhance or inhibit the experience of students and learning outcomes. This framework provided the ideal platform to examine online teaching/faculty presence. Assumptions Several assumptions were guided by the literature review on faculty presence and the barriers of faculty presence. The first assumption was that participants in this study represented a PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 21 sample of the undergraduate and graduate, part-time and full-time tenured and non-tenured faculty, teaching in the online nursing program at a state public university in southern California. A second assumption is that the participants willingly participated in the study without any coercion or fees. A third assumption is that the nursing faculty had firsthand knowledge about online teaching and learning and provided substantial information about faculty presence in the online courses. A fourth assumption was that participants answered the survey and participated in the interview to the best of their knowledge and ability. The strength of the interviewee’s knowledge of the perceived barriers of faculty presence and their experience was pivotal in getting valid data. A fifth assumption related to the interview process. It was assumed that the interviewer was not using clues such as voice tone, facial expression, body language and non-verbal cues to affect the rresponses and could have been identified as biases. According to Polit and Beck (2014), a major researcher’s job concerns efforts to eliminate, reduce, or control biases. Finally, it was assumed that the researcher had no biases related to sampling, data collection, and the participants’ responses to the survey and interview and data analysis. A core assumption was that when utilizing triangulation, the data obtained provided a better understanding of the research problem than either form of data alone. Scope To maintain congruency, the scope of the study was restricted to nursing faculty teaching undergraduate and graduate nurses at a School of Nursing at a public state university in southern California in the spring semester of 2017. This university is one of 23 public state universities in the California State University system. The population for this study included all part-time and full-time faculty, tenured and non-tenured, with at least one-year teaching experience via the PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 22 online method in higher education and currently teaching at this university using the asynchronous method. As part of their teaching/employment contract, faculty at this university maintained an active registered nurse license at all times. Additionally, the population included faculty teaching across nursing specialties. All faculty use computers to teach and communicate and have access to emails. The survey questions were administered via email. Interview questions were developed and conducted via phone. The population from which the sample was be obtained was adequate to answer the research questions. Limitations This study involved nursing faculty in one school of nursing in southern California. Because of this, the findings have limited transferability to other schools of nursing in California or the US. The results of this study were specific to this particular school of nursing. Additionally, the validity of the tools used for data collection was limited to the structure of the questions and the time and method used to establish validity. This study was limited to subjects who voluntarily agree to participate in the research study. The quality and saturation of the data depended on the willingness of the subjects’ responses. Researcher bias can threaten a study’s validity and trustworthiness and can occur during the interviewing process by the tone, voice, facial expressions of the interviewer (Polit & Beck, 2014; Forister & Blessing, 2015). According to Polit and Beck (2014), bias can occur in the design such as in selection also during sampling, or bias in measurement and analysis. The researcher can alleviate bias by standardized data collection instruments. Triangulation is one strategy to address bias since multiple sources of information or points of view help to counter balance biases (Polit & Beck, 2014). In this study, triangulation addressed any bias or threats to internal validity. The research methods were discussed in detail in Chapter 3. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 23 Delimitations Delimitations of the study included convenience sampling from a school of nursing at a public state university in southern California. The study results only applied to this school of nursing at this particular university at a point in time. Limiting the study to part-time and full- time tenured and non-tenured nursing faculty with twenty years of teaching in higher education theoretically lead to limited generalizability of the study results, concerning faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment. This researcher imposed limitations limited generalizability because of the convenience sampling. According to Forister and Blessing (2015) threats to external validity can relate to the population and to the environment in which the study takes place. Definition of terms In this study, the researcher operationalized the following terms and phrases: Asynchronous online: The asynchronous medium of online education is currently the dominant form of online education. The asynchronous exchange occurs in delayed time and is not influenced by simultaneous access for educational outcomes (Oztok, et al., 2013). Cognitive presence: Cognitive presence was defined as “the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning through sustained reflection and discourse in a critical community of inquiry” (Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 2001, p. 5). Engagement: One aspect of presence, which is the participation of the instructor with learners and the learner with other learners as they interact in the online environment (Lehman & Conceicao, 2010). PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 24 Faculty Presence: Is the feeling of students that they are being taught by an individual within the discussion forum. Faculty presence encompasses the dynamic interplay of behavior, thought, and emotion in the online learning environment. Motivation: Motivation is the process that initiates and sustains goal-directed performance (Clark, 2003). Online Class: An online class is defined in this survey as a course where more than 80 percent of all content is delivered online, and there are typically no face-to-face meetings with instructors (Lytle, 2011). Presence: Described as the way in which humans interact with each other (Casey & Kroth, 2013); included the dynamic interplay of thought, emotion, and behavior in the online environment (Lehman & Conceicao, 2010). Registered Nurse: Described as a nurse who has graduated from a school of nursing or college nursing program. This individual has passed the national licensing exam (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). Social Presence: This is “the degree to which a person is perceived as ‘real’ in mediated communication” (Gunawardena, 1995, p. 151). Synchronous: The synchronous medium of online education involving real-time communication between faculty and student. Most commonly in the form of a chat format (Oztok, et al., 2013). Teaching Presence: Teaching presence is defined as the “design, facilitation, and direction of cognitive and social processes for the realization of personally meaningful and educationally worthwhile learning outcomes” (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, & Archer (2001). PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 25 Organization of the study Chapter 1 included a discussion of the issue of faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment. An overview of the background, statement and significance of the problem, the purpose of the study, and research questions were presented. The assumptions, scope, limitations, delimitations, and definition of terms were also presented. Chapter 2 included a review of the historical and current literature related to exploring the perceived barriers of nursing faculty presence in an asynchronous online environment. The theoretical framework and its origin were discussed. Chapter 2 also included discussions about the impact of nursing faculty presence, student outcomes and the use of online nursing delivery methods in nursing education. Chapter 3 included a detailed discussion of the research methodology for the study. A comprehensive explanation of the sampling and population selection, the mixed-method design, the instruments and conceptual framework for the instrument content was included. An in depth data collection and analysis process based on the research questions were presented. In Chapter 4 the results of the study were reported. In Chapter 5 the limitations and recommendations were included. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 26 CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW Given the emerging impact of online education and its structural paradigm, it was important to consider the effect of faculty presence on the quality of the online learning experience. A literature review on this topic of faculty presence consisted of keyword searches. To that end, this chapter explored the extensive pre-existing literature related to six distinct literature review sections: Distance education and online learning, the growth of online education and nursing, nursing education and presence in online education and the influences of faculty presence, which intrinsically influences the barriers to faculty presence. A brief description of one of the key instruments for measuring teaching presence and the Community of Inquiry theoretical framework were also presented. Literature Review Process The researcher retrieved information for this literature review from books, previous dissertations published and unpublished, other research materials that provide insight into the research topic, peer-reviewed articles in Google Scholar, PubMed, EBSCO and ProQuest databases. Additionally, for this descriptive mixed-method case study the researcher used classic (more than 5 years old) and current evidence - based data. In critiquing some of the articles, various themes emerged relating to social and cognitive presence. The search terms used were “online education,” “history of nursing education,” “faculty presence,” “conceptual frameworks,” “nursing faculty presence,” “higher education and online education,” and “Community of Inquiry model” “teaching presence,” and “perception of barriers to online education” and “mixed-method research design”. There is a notable gap in the current literature regarding online education, which began in the 1990s. The literature search did not produce specific information related to nursing faculty PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 27 presence. Because of this gap, the researcher thinks that this study added to the body of knowledge on faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment. Evolution of Distance Education and Online Learning Distance education is not new to the academic environment. Distance education has been around for over 150 years (O’Reilly, 2009). The goal of distance education was to bring educational opportunities to individuals who were not able to access traditional brick and mortar education. Over the last 150 years distance education has grown from correspondence, radio, satellite, television and now the Internet. In 1878, correspondence educational study started with course work sent through the postal mail. In the mid-1900s, courses were broadcast through radio and television also dependent on asynchronous communication that is dependent on content interaction (Moore & Kearsly, 2005). The 1960s welcomed the systems approach with the arrival of the University of Wisconsin’s AIM project that introduced printed educational material with audio and video tapes sent through the U.S. mail. The University of Wisconsin’s AIM Project established distance education as a significant influential new comer to higher education. Evans and Nation (2003) stated that “the emergence and success of the University of Wisconsin’s AIM Project in the 1970s signaled that distance education could hold a preeminent place in higher education nationally and internationally” (p. 789). The 1980s brought teleconferencing in the United States where one-way video and two- way audio communication was used during this period. In the 1990s two-way communications were utilized to stimulate live interaction between student and faculty. This was a generation of the evolution of three-way educational communication that featured learner-learner interaction, learner-content interaction, and learner-instructor interaction. This three-way educational PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 28 communication fostered effective teaching practices among online faculty (Moore & Kearsly, 2005). The 1980s and 1990s are branded by utilizing both asynchronous and synchronous communication methods of online learning. The current generation is earmarked by the interactive aspects of online education, which fosters the social learning methods which contribute to online learning in higher education (Dieberger, 1997; O’Reilly, 2009). This expansion has been noted as one of the major contributors to the current and expected changes in higher education. As online education expands, academic institutions need to focus on the provision of quality education. The Growth of Online Education The growth of online enrollment within higher education has outpaced overall higher education enrollment. In 2013, there were over 5 million students enrolled in distance education courses at degree-granting postsecondary institutions (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2015). In a study by the Pew Research Center (2012), college presidents revealed that more than three-fourths of respondents said their university offered online courses. Half of the presidents surveyed believed that more than half of their students will enroll in at least one online course during their college term. The Online Learning Consortium (2012) surveyed 2,800 academic leaders and found that 6.7 million students in the United States (U.S.) took at least one online course through a college or university during the fall of 2011. This was a significant increase from the previous year. Higher education institutions seemed to respond to the demand as evidenced by a significant increase in the number of online course offerings. In 2002 only 32.5 percent of colleges and universities offered fully online degree courses as compared to an increase of 62.4 percent of course offerings in 2012 (Babson Survey Research Group, 2012). PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 29 One of the fundamental beliefs of online education for learners is that it provides educational opportunities for those individuals who otherwise would not have access to get advanced degrees from a college or university. Online course work provides a cost effective option for registered nurses, who may not have the ability to obtain advanced degrees in a traditional academic setting (Bolan, 2003; McAlpine, et al, 2002; Ostrow & Dimaria-Ghalili, 2005; Yick, 2005). Online courses allow nurses to attend school and obtain their degrees without having to miss work hours, requiring employers to seek replacement options for staffing needs in healthcare institutions. Critics of online learning contend that there is a loss of contextual meaning within the asynchronous learning environment because interactions occur in an intangible form (Ice, et al, 2007). As such, it is contended that asynchronous learning is not sufficiently rich in the social mediated environment that Vygotsky (1980) describes as necessary to construct knowledge. Nonetheless, this interpretation is discounted by much of the literature that supports the student’s ability to conceptualize “being” as anything other than a tangible construct. The ability to project oneself through virtual media termed social presence, was originally described by Short, Williams, and Christie (1976) who offered that, as critics of asynchronous learning. Conversely, Rourke Anderson, Garrison, and Archer (2007) and Swan (2002) contended that this may not be the case, as students in online courses appear to build effective learning communities by projecting their personalities through text alone. With the advancement of technology, the online sector of education continues to use technology in order to create more real-time interactions and conversations across various mediums. Faculty teaching the online method struggle to prove its relevance and utility as educators discuss and search for ways to increase class size. This was one significant point of PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 30 discussion that surrounds the concept of faculty presence in online learning environments (Carlon, et al., 2012). Questions about how to engender quality student interaction in an online learning environment are regularly raised by critics of this method of delivering education. The literature reviewed for this dissertation demonstrates not only that quality student interaction is possible in the asynchronous classroom, but also that certain teaching practices such as faculty presence, can have the potential to positively influence student engagement and quality in this learning environment (Comer & Lenaghan, 2013). Asynchronous and Synchronous Online Medium Over the course of a thousand years, universities have been the main societal infrastructure for knowledge and learning. The fundamentals of how universities disseminate knowledge have survived through the vast societal changes created by technology. Advanced tools afforded by the introduction of the Internet have helped learners access online learning asynchronously and synchronously without the limitation of time and geographic location (Huang, Wang & Liu, 2015). As the number of online courses continues to grow, so must the ways in which faculty members engage in the facilitation of learning and presence in the classroom. Faculty members in the online learning environment facilitate learning through asynchronous or synchronous communication formats. The asynchronous platform allows the student to discuss material in a delayed time format. Conversely, the synchronous platform allows the student to discuss material in a real-time format that often has a video component added to course discussions (O’Reilly, 2009; Stephens & Mottet, 2008; Schwienhorst, 2003). Both formats cultivate the quality of learning and social interaction. Asynchronous discussions encourage critical reflective PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 31 discussions while, synchronous discussions foster more real-time discussion exchanges (Schwienhorst, 2003). The asynchronous online courses are earmarked by collaborative self-paced learning environment. Asynchronous online discussions occur when students are not engaged at the same time and geographically separated. Exchanges may have some elapse time between messages (Somenarain, Akkaraju, & Gharbaran, 2010). Asynchronous online education provides the learner with a flexible learning environment that is not restricted to a set day or time. Examples of asynchronous online learning management systems are Blackboard, WebCT learning management systems, blogs, and email. Asynchronous course discussion can be the primary source of learning used to supplement traditional method classes or utilized along with synchronous course delivery (Knapczyk, Frey, & Wall-Marenick, 2005; Smith, et al., 2009; Huang, et al., 2015; Offir, 2006). The majority of instruction for online courses at institutions is typically asynchronous format in nature. Conversely, synchronous online learning consists of real-time instructor lead communication. This often provides an interactive online learning environment. Instructor - led learning where the instructor and student are logged on simultaneously as direct communication transpires, earmarks a synchronous course. Interactivity and collaborative learning are additional influences that promote and support student engagement in the synchronous online learning environment (Skylar, 2009). Examples of this format are Collaborate, Elluminate Live, and Adobe Connect. The effectiveness of both online modalities has been well documented in the literature. In Kanuka, Collett, and Caswell’s (2002) study the faculty believed both the synchronous and asynchronous formats supported instructional strategies that are used in traditional brick and PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 32 mortar classrooms. Supportively, Huang, Wang, and Liu’s (2015) quasi-experimental study revealed that asynchronous and synchronous design formats have the same effectiveness of online student learning and motivation. Hlas, Schuh, and Alessi’s (2008) study, corroborated most of the literature supporting the premise that synchronous online courses and asynchronous online courses have the same effect on students' motivational learning. Additionally, it is noted that the two modalities are both effective in the delivery of instruction as supported by, Skylar’s (2009) quantitative study that compared performance and satisfaction in the two types of online instruction. The Influences of Teaching/Faculty Presence It is usually the faculty member that creates an environment that allows the student to engage and participate comfortably in the class discussions. This is also expected in the online teaching. How can this be created in the online class? Faculty presence maybe the answer. The demands of teaching online require the understanding of content and how to present content in an academic environment utilizing technology (Conceicao, 2006; Smith, et al., 2009). It is also vital that the online curriculum is supported by sound instructional design that fosters critical thinking and sound decision-making. Smith, et al. (2009) noted that the participants in their study (seven instructors and two instructional designers) within colleges of nursing were most challenged by the lack of technology support for their students who were less technology adapt. In their qualitative descriptive multi-site study, it was noted that the faculty believed, that the discussion board in the learning management system technology, were important in incorporating the human element that fostered a sense of faculty presence. In Gunawardena and Zittle’s (1997) landmark study on social presence as a predictor of online student satisfaction, the researcher found that social presence alone is a strong predictor of PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 33 student satisfaction. This study was designed to measure Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) from a social presence construct. Fifty participants from five universities responded to a GlobalEd questionnaire that was developed to assess CMC satisfaction. Gunawardena and Zittle’s (1997) study utilized a questionnaire that measured the following areas of focus: Confidence in mastering CMC, social presence, active participation, and overall satisfaction with the GlobalEd conference. The results of the study supported recommendations for designing academic online learning environments that foster faculty presence. Results from Gunawardena and Zittle’s (1997) research provided the evidence for the relationship between faculty presence and student satisfaction. Faculty presence and interactions among students are critical in cognitive development and learning. Supportively, in Gunawardena’s (1995) literature review, the author examined the applicability of the Social Presence Theory within the context of online learning. Gunawardena (1995) explored four key concepts within the literature review: The concept of social presence, the impact of social presence on learning and attitudes, and social presence and CMC. Gunawardena’s (1995) explored the seminal work of Short, Williams, and Christie (1976) along with recent research on the relationship of social presence as a characteristic of perceived learning within computer-mediated communication. Gunawardena’s (1995) results determined that faculty within this computer mediated learning environment must create a sense of online community in order to promote collaborative learning that results in perceived learning. In Croxton (2014) study, the author addressed the role of interactivity in student satisfaction and persistence in online learning. Empirical literature was reviewed through the lens of Bandura's social cognitive theory, Anderson's interaction equivalency theorem, and Tinto's social integration theory. Findings suggested, that faculty interactivity is an important component PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 34 of satisfaction and persistence for online learners, and that preferences for types of online interactivity vary according to the type of learner. Student–instructor interaction was also noted to be a primary variable in online student satisfaction and persistence (Croxton, 2014). The following will explore the barriers to faculty presence. Barriers to Faculty Presence Teaching in the online learning environment is extremely challenging and complex. Like the pioneer teachers of the one room classroom, it takes a considerable amount of effort for teachers in the twenty-first century to create the necessary “warmth” in the online learning environment (Anderson, Liam, Garrison & Archer, (2001). This section explored the stated barriers to online teaching as perceived by the online faculty from the literature search. Faculty development, motivation, and technology barriers were reviewed. Faculty Development Barriers Online faculty must be aware of the impact that their social presence and immediacy behaviors have on their students’ satisfaction (Kranzow, 2013; Stanford-Bowers, 2008). Fang (2007) notes that some online faculty members may be deficient in the rudimentary skills needed for effective online teaching. Moreover, online faculty contexts and backgrounds differ even when using the same online learning systems. Some new online faculty experiment with new systems, yet others who have used the online systems for some time, are lacking in the knowledge needed to make online teaching more effective (Fang, 2007). Creating a community of inquiry in a virtual environment can be challenging for educators. Fang (2007) noted that the faculty members were concerned with the authenticity of the ability to communicate nursing situations and methods that adequately captured the application of nursing content in a way that stimulated a higher order of thinking. The demands of teaching online require the understanding PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 35 of content and the manner in which to present content in an academic environment utilizing technology. It is vital that online curriculum is supported by sound instructional design that fosters critical thinking and sound decision-making. It is also important to look at motivation as a barrier to online teaching. Motivational Barriers Well documented in the literature are three types of motivational barriers. Clark and Estes (2008) identify active choice as the first motivational type. Within this characteristic of motivation, the individual chooses to actively pursue work goals within the environment in what Condly, Clark, and Stolovitch (2003) identify as buy-in. The second type is what Clark and Estes (2008) define as persistence, which is the ability to persevere in the face of distractions. A problem within this facet occurs, when individuals experience distractions once they begin a task, and are able to stay on course. The third facet of Clark and Estes’ (2008) motivational theory is mental effort. Once the individual has chosen to participate through active choice and persisted among distraction, one must decide how much effort is needed to complete the task (Clark and Estes, 2008). The context and backgrounds of online faculty members differ regardless of the utilization of the same medium, within the online learning environment. As noted above Fang (2007) described the importance of two factors within the designing faculty-development interventions in an online learning environment as: Adoption and effectiveness of online teaching. Smith’s, et al., (2009) study with faculty, concerned the authenticity of the ability to communicate nursing situations and methods, that adequately captured the application of nursing content, in a way that stimulated a higher order of thinking. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 36 The time investment of creating and facilitating online courses has been documented as one of the significant challenges of online teaching. Alexander, et al., (2003) found a decline in younger faculty because of the time and effort online teaching requires. Additionally, Alexander, et al., (2003), argued that integrating online learning into the curriculum is deterred by the amount of faculty time it takes to create online materials. “Creating one hour of web instruction takes an average of about 18 hours of faculty time” (Boettcher & Conrad, 1999, p. 30). Online course development accounts for a significant workload increase due to the implementation of technology. Correspondingly, online faculty members have stated that online teaching is challenging, due to the challenge of building meaningful community among the students and faculty. Hiltz’s, et al., (2007), qualitative and quantitative study of online faculty noted the need for support from administration, for the amount of time and energy it takes to design and facilitate online courses. The literature established the importance of the online faculty need for inherent rewards and administrative acknowledgment within their departments. Many faculty members in Hiltz’s (2007) study, felt that they are not being rewarded and sometimes devalued by the institution and many of their colleagues. Technology also plays an important role in the online classroom. Technology Barriers Increasing the effectiveness of online education is a systematic process within higher education. Supportive resources within the environment play an important role in enabling and motivating faculty to use effective online teaching strategies (Fang, 2007; Khan, 1997). The differences between online courses and face-to-face courses must be considered. The manner in which faculty members are introduced to the online environment, and the implementation of online instructional design and technology have created numerous challenges for online line PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 37 faculty. In Smith, et al., (2009) qualitative multi-site descriptive study, the researcher noted that the introduction of the technology utilized in online teaching has increased the workload of many faculty members, who are not expecting technology to be the significant focus of their academic career. Corroboratively noted in the literature, is the challenge of supporting students who are not in an environment with adequate technology support services (Alexander, 2003). Schools of nursing must be mindful of the shortage of nursing and nursing faculty and changes in the nursing profession, and create effective online programs to retain faculty. To retain new students and graduate competent nurses with higher degrees it is important to be cognizant of the role faculty presence plays in the online environment. Faculty presence is an important indicator related to student satisfaction (Cobb, 2011; Richardson & Swan, 2003; Yen & Abdous, 2011). Using a theoretical framework to guide the implantation of faculty presence in an online learning environment can be useful. Community of Inquiry (CoI) Framework The CoI framework developed by Garrison, Anderson & Archer (1999) provides the guiding framework used to determine the influential relationship between teaching/faculty presence (Figure 1). Garrison, et al., (1999) landmark article lays out the conceptual framework, that identifies the essential prerequisites for the successful higher educational experience from a constructivist view, within the online learning environment. Worthwhile online education is composed of the essential components within the CoI, in which faculty and students are integral participants in the educational process. The model of CoI assumes that learning within the community consists of the interaction of fundamental elements, which are identified as cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence (Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 1999). PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 38 The nature of learning is greatly affected by the social context of the online learning environment. This social context in the form of community promotes higher-order thinking among students. The educational experience in the community of inquiry is an essential component of the educational experience that fosters the facilitation of deep learning and critical thinking (Carlon, et al., 2012; Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 1999). CoI integrates the elements of cognitive, social, and teaching presence that extend beyond cognitive interaction and social exchanges in the online learning environment. Recent literature supports the importance of considering the learner’s personal world (insightful and meaning-focused) and the shared world (knowledge-focused and collaborative) in order to cultivate a structured purposeful learning environment (Carlon, et al., 2012; Stephens & Hennefer, 2013). The CoI framework with the three overlapping core components is intended to be applied to the online education environment for a purpose of improving the online education experience. These are described below. Cognitive presence is noted as the most basic to the success of higher education. Cognitive presence is described as “the extent to which the participants in any particular configuration of a community of inquiry are able to construct meaning through sustained communication.” (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, (2000), p. 89). This vital element is often presented as an ongoing goal of higher education. Collaboration is one of the essential components of cognitive development since cognition cannot be separated from the social environment. The second essential element of the model is social presence defined as “the ability of participants in the CoI to project their personal characteristics into the community, thereby presenting themselves to other participants as ‘real people’” (Garrison, Anderson, Archer, 2000, p. 89). Social presence indirectly supports cognitive presence by facilitating critical thinking of PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 39 the community of learners (Akyol, et al., 2010). It is noted that social presence is highly correlated to educational success in online education. The third fundamental element in the CoI framework is teaching presence. Teaching presence is seen as one of the essential components that support both cognitive and social presence as students realize educational outcomes within the online learning environment. Teaching presence involves the integration of social and cognitive elements within the educational online environment (Cobb, 2011). In a study conducted by Casey and Kroth (2013) the researchers’ described faculty presence in the online classroom and explored the ways in which human beings interact with each other. The researchers’ qualitative study sought to understand the techniques online faculty implemented in order to be “present” with their students. Data were gathered primarily through interviews and syllabus reviews. The findings included techniques the teachers used when organizing and planning their courses, communicating with students, incorporating collaborative work and encouraging student self-direction, and developing learning relationships in their online courses. Within this environment, the components of the CoI can enhance or inhibit the students' experience. This article serves to support the research questions in this study with the purpose of discovering the barriers of faculty presence in the online environment by identifying which techniques are utilized to be “present”. The Community of Inquiry framework is better aligned with disciplines such as education, business, and health care. The constructivist approach to teaching and learning within the CoI is noted as one of the reasons for this conclusion (Arbaugh, Bangert, and Cleveland- Innes (2009). Supportively, Carlon, et al. (2012) corroborates support for this disciplinary preference of the applicability of the CoI model. Carlon’s, et al. (2012) descriptive study PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 40 examined nurses, physical therapists, and healthcare administrators and identified similarities and differences in the CoI model among health care disciplines. Unfortunately, there are limited studies that have been done to explore the CoI model in the context of health care disciplines (Gallagher-Lepak, Reilly, Killion, 2009). The results of this research study certainly added to this body of knowledge. While the literature supports the CoI model’s beneficial contributions to improving the online learning environment, questions remain regarding the authentication of the model (Shea & Bidjerano, 2009). There is a need for studies that examine the three elements of the model simultaneously with analytical rigor. Prior research has focused on a particular element without regards to the relationship of the other two elements. Garrison, et al. (2010) strongly encourages studies that can test the generalizability of the whole model among other disciplines. Although there has been a large amount of research identifying the components of successful online learning environments (Cleveland-Innes, Garrison & Kinsel, 2007), there is a need to have an in-depth analysis with a theoretical framework that informs the complexities of online learning. The literature noted two common challenges associated with the utilization of the CoI framework. The first study noted to be the lack of common measures within the studies that investigate the model, which is noted to make generalizations among various studies difficulty. The second is noted as that a limited number of studies that explore all three presences within the CoI model and the interactions among the three components (Arbaugh et al, 2008; Bangert, 2009; Diaz et al, 2010; Shea & Bidjerano, 2009). Online education signifies a new era in higher education that can create cost - effective learning environments. This environment is noted to only be effective if the three essential elements of the CoI are incorporated into the online learning environment - cognitive presence, PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 41 social presence, and teaching presence. The following sections will explore the cognitive presence, social presence and teaching presence - components of the CoI model in detail. Cognitive Presence Cognitive presence is defined as “the extent to which learners are able to construct and confirm meaning, through sustained reflection and discourse in a critical community of inquiry.” Garrison, Anderson, Archer (2000) (p. 5). The creation of cognitive presence is dependent on whether the communication medium is restrictive or encouraging. Cognitive presence within the CoI is operationalized through Dewey’s Practical Inquiry model (1959), which focuses on the notion of relative thought. Dewey assumes that the educational experience is based on a process of inquiry (Swan, Garrison & Richardson, 2009). The assessment of cognitive presence is based on the use of the model of critical thinking and the capacity to reflect educational practice. Cognitive presence does not focus on individual learning outcomes, rather the focus is primarily on higher order thinking. Garrison, Anderson, Archer (2010) note that critical thinking within cognitive presence is considered both an outcome and a process. From the outcome lens, the individual perspective is noted as the attainment of meaningful understanding and critical inquiry abilities. Within this context, the faculty is responsible for assessing the quality of critical thinking as an outcome within the online environment. A vast amount of the literature documents the difficulty of assessing critical thinking within the online context. To this point, Garrison, Anderson, Archer (2000) developed a means to assess critical thinking in the online environment. The practical inquiry model was designed to guide methodology of research on measuring cognitive presence. This model mirrors the critical thinking within the context of cognitive presence. Expressed in a different way, cognitive presence reflects the application of higher-order thinking attainment, PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 42 which is allied critical thinking within the literature and research. A review of the second component of the CoI follows. Social Presence The importance of social presence begins to gain momentum as online educational options increases in the higher education environment. Presence is described as the way in which humans interact with each other (Casey & Kroth, 2013). Social presence is “the degree to which a person is perceived as ‘real’ in mediated communication” (Gunawardena, 1995, p. 151). In Gunawardena and Zittle’s (1997) landmark study on social presence as a predictor of online student satisfaction, the researcher found that social presence alone is a strong predictor of student satisfaction. Using a 14-item survey, they found that 60% of the variance in student satisfaction was interrelated to perceptions of social comfort and presence. Comparatively, social presence was noted as the most important influential factor in improving instructional effectiveness. The development of social presence in the online learning environment is vital to the successful online learning environment. (Elwood, et al, 2012). Swan and Shih’s (2005) corroborate Cobb’s (2011) study that social presence highly correlates to online students’ perceived learning. The findings suggest that perceived learning results from a sense of comfort and community in the online environment. The sense of comfort and community was seen as a significant influence in the promotion of perceived learning among online students (Cobb, 2011). Additionally, there is considerable research and literature supporting the relationship between perceived learning and faculty presence. Swan (2002) reports that online faculty presence has a larger effect on perceived learning than interaction with peers. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 43 Two related studies were found, that examined the component of social presence in online nursing programs. Cobb (2011) utilized the Social Presence and Satisfaction Scales developed by Gunawardena and Zittle (1997) and found that perceived learning was significantly associated with establishing a sense of community, which was noted to be more important than instructor performance. Supportively, Mayne and Wu (2011) proposed strategies that helped to cultivate social presence in the online courses in a graduate nursing program, that resulted in greater student satisfaction and perceived social presence. The following studies noted the difficulty in measuring social presence in the online learning environment. Shea and Bidjerano (2009) note that the ability of online students to identify with the community is a product of the construct of social presence, however, a year later, in the researchers’ similar study, it was noted that social presence scores were difficult to decipher among the disciplines studied. Kim (2011) supportively described the difficulty in assessing social presence, in a study that was associated with the components of social presence. Following is a review of the third component of the CoI, teaching presence. Teaching Presence Teaching presence is defined as having three categories such as design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction (Anderson, Liam, Garrison, & Archer, 2001). Some of the literature concurs with Anderson, et al (2008, p. 3) that “it is the teacher’s responsibility to precipitate and facilitate learning that has a purpose and is focused on essential concepts and worthwhile goals” (p.3). Facilitating sustained and authentic communication can be complex and challenging for teachers in the virtual classroom. All educators are faced with the collaborative challenge of the construction of knowledge. However, numerous literature supports the acknowledgment of the difficulty of designing, facilitating, and directing learning online. The PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 44 next section described the three categories of teaching presence within the literature - design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction. “Teaching presence” and “faculty presence” will be used essentially as synonyms in this dissertation. A review of the Teaching Presence Scale follows. Teaching Presence Scale (TPS) The TPS developed by Garrison, Anderson, and Archer (2000) measures how online professors instruct, facilitate interaction, and organize their course. This scale consists of three components, Design and Organization, Facilitating Discourse and Direct Instruction. The TPS is utilized to better understand the impact of teacher presence in the online community. This was the chosen instrument to survey nursing faculty on the perceived barriers to faculty presence in the online environment. The developer granted permission to modify as necessary (Appendix B). The literature supports a positive relationship of teaching presence and learning outcomes (Anderson, Rourke, Garrison, 2001; O’Reilly, 2011; Shea, Li, & Pickett, 2006; Yen & Abdous, 2011), therefore, establishing the importance of assessing teaching presence in an effort to maintain a quality online learning environment. Swan, Richardson, Garrison, Cleveland-Innis, Arbaugh (2008) validated the TPS and the CoI framework by administering the instrument at four universities in 2007. This 34 item Likert (0=Strongly Disagree) to (4=Strongly Agree had mean responses from 2.90 to 3.63 with a standard deviation range from 0.66 to 1.44. Collectively, the teaching presence items yield a mean score of 3.34 (SD. =0.61). The sample size for this study was n=287. Consistent with the design of the instrument items 1-13 were teaching presence items. Garrison’s, et al., (2007) study validating the teaching presence scale established validity and reliability of the CoI instrument which establishes the tool as a reputable tool that can be utilized to measure teaching presence within the online learning environment. Internal PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 45 consistency of the correlation among the variables provides evidence of reliability for the instrument. The internal consistencies derived from evidence of the Cronbach Alpha numbers for the Teaching Presence Scale is 0.94, conclusively, providing a reliable measure for the utilization of the CoI in the online learning environment. Although this scale has been used to measure teaching presence from the student perspective, the researcher obtained permission from the developer to modify the scale, to measure teaching presence from the faculty perspective. The researcher with permission will modify the TPS for this particular study with a group of nursing faculty experts who will establish content and face validity. The three components of the Teaching Presence Scale, Design and Organization, Facilitating Discourse and Direct Instruction will be discussed in greater detail as follows. Design and Organization This first component of the TPS consists of the process of designing and planning online courses. This component is more time-consuming than traditional courses in the traditional brick and mortar educational environments (Nelson & Thompson, 2005). Designing online courses often warrants more thorough planning of the process, structure, interaction, and evaluation of the essential elements of the course (Rourke & Anderson, 2000). Anderson, et al (2001) describe activities in this category as building curriculum. The literature also describes this design component as the creation and integration of “learning objects” such as lecture notes and personal insight. The design and administration of a combination of group, and individual activities were also reviewed (Swan, et al., 2008). The organizational components of the manner in which online courses are developed have been noted as one of the significant influences of positive learning outcomes in the online learning environment (Carlon, et al., 2012).The importance of clear and consistent course PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 46 structure that fosters engaged faculty and dynamic online discussions have been noted to be the most significant predictor of successful online courses (Swan, 2002; 2003; Swan, et al., 2008). It is important that students know the “grand design” of the course structure, and that participating in learning activities, will result in the attainment of their knowledge goals within these virtual learning environments. Survey questions about the design and organization of online courses, can assisted in exploring perceived barriers to faculty presence and facilitate discourse. Facilitating Discourse Facilitating discourse is the second subcategory of the TPS, when the faculty members create an environment where critical discourse occurs and is sustained. This sub category is critical to maintaining the engagement, motivation, and interest of the online students’ active learning. This subcategory consists of “knowledge-building community” that is the learning component of the community (Anderson et al 2001; Lipman, 1991). The purpose of Ma, Han, Yang, and Cheng’s (2015) study was to ascertain the role of the online instructor in student engagement at a large university in southeast China. Using a learning analytics approach, Ma, et al. (2014) tracked data from the university’s Learning Management System called Tsinghua Education Online (THEOL) for 900 online courses. The data were classified into 16 markers of student and instructor activity and then placed into 5 latent variables. Those variables centered on instructor preparation, guidance and assistance as well as student viewing activities, interactivity, and finished learning tasks. Using a Structural Equation Model to analyze the data, the authors found that the instructor’s designed curriculum, online activities, and prompt feedback were all positively related to student engagement. The limitations of their study were described as having 16 indicators that used 5 types of indicators found in the research literature, which the authors felt might have been different from other researchers’ PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 47 labels. In addition, the authors only collected data at only one university. This research lends itself to supporting the importance of facilitating discourse within the online learning environment. Comer and Lenaghan’s (2013) article addressed educators’ concerns about using asynchronous online discussions in lieu of face-to-face discussions. Drawing from research on asynchronous online education and Bloom’s taxonomy, the authors introduce the system of “original examples” and “value-added comments” that they have developed to promote engaging and meaningful discussions. The authors describe how to integrate this system into an online course and provide guidelines for instructor facilitation that promotes faculty presence in the online environment. The researchers offer evidence that faculty-lead online asynchronous discussions, facilitate students’ learning and may be more inclusive than face-to-face discussions for some students. Direct Instruction Direct instruction is the final subcategory of the TPS. In this sub category, teachers share knowledge with students by providing scholarly leadership within the online learning environment. Anderson, et al., (2001) noted that faculty must be able to establish a climate that models scholarly qualities within that environment. The role of online faculty involves direct instruction that reflects the pedagogical expertise of the faculty. Many of the theorists reviewed in the literature argue that the online learning environment is unlike traditional brick and mortar- based learning, in that, the faculty must assume the role of facilitator as opposed to the sole provider of content (Anderson et al, 2001; Arbaugh, 2008; Salmon, 2000). Anderson, et al., (2001) presented some concern about the subjective distinction between facilitator and content provider. Salmon (2000) acknowledges the diverse nature of online faculty as facilitators in this PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 48 virtual environment. Salmon (2000) argues, that faculty within this context does not require broad subject matter proficiency. Salmon (2000) continues, that the faculty members need at least the same level of knowledge of the subject that they are moderating. This argument is not well supported in the literature. Minimal subject level competency is not ideal within a high- quality online learning environment (Garrison, et al., 2010; Anderson, et al., 2001). Additionally, Arbaugh (2008) noted the importance of the faculty assessing comments for accurate understanding, directing discussions, and introducing sources of information that scaffolds the learner’s knowledge to elevate it to a new level. The three categories of the TPS were explained in detail. The TPS was used in this study to collect data to answer the research questions. The literature search revealed very limited studies on teaching/faculty presence in asynchronous online programs and none whatsoever on faculty presence in nursing asynchronous online programs. This descriptive mixed method case study added to a body of knowledge that is currently lacking. Summary Schools of nursing must be mindful of the shortage of nursing and nursing faculty and create effective online programs. Faculty presence is an important indicator related to student satisfaction. To retain new students and graduate competent nurses with advanced degrees to enter leadership and faculty roles it is important to be cognizant of the role faculty presence play in the online environment. The literature search revealed very limited studies on teaching/faculty presence in asynchronous online programs and none whatsoever on faculty presence in nursing asynchronous online programs. This descriptive mixed method case study results added to a body of knowledge that is currently lacking in nursing programs. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 49 Chapter 2 discussion examined research related to the evolution of distance and online education, the growth of online education in nursing schools and higher education, the effect of the nursing shortage on the online learning environment and the need for nurses with advanced preparation. The CoI Framework with one of its element, teaching presence was discussed and reviewed extensively, and the rationale for its use to answer the research questions was presented. The three components of the Teaching Presence Scale - Design and Organization, Facilitating Discourse and Direct Instruction - were discussed and a case was made for using this instrument to collect data for this study. Chapter 3 included discussions related to research methodology, design, data collection and analysis to answer the research questions. This study included data from part-time and full-time, tenured and non-tenured nursing faculty teaching in the asynchronous online nursing program in a school of nursing in southern California. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 50 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY This chapter described the research methodology and design, which answered the research questions for this descriptive mixed method case study research. Also included is the rationale for choosing and the appropriateness of the design, population, sampling process, data collection, and data analysis. Qualtrics, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), was utilized to survey participants. The ethical considerations, credibility and trustworthiness plans were included to demonstrate the confidentiality of the participants. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between the perception of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Further, this study sought to determine if a relationship existed between perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic variables. This case study answered the following research questions: 1. What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? 2. What are the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? 3. Is there a relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic factors among the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in California? Research Design and Method A descriptive case study utilizing sequential transformative mixed-method strategy formed the operational framework. This methodology was used to explore the relationship PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 51 between specific demographic variables and the faculty perception of the importance of faculty presence in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Additionally, this research sought to determine if a relationship existed between the perceived challenges and various demographic factors of the faculty at the chosen research site. The use of the research methods in this study was dictated by the nature of the research questions. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are often seen as complementary and, in health care studies, termed mixed methods. Qualitative studies use an emergent design that evolves as researchers make ongoing decisions based on the information previously deduced in research (Polit & Beck, 2014). Qualitative research design is flexible and elastic which means that it is capable of adjusting to what is being learned during data collection. As noted by Creswell (2015), quantitative research does not investigate the meanings of personal stories and perspectives of individuals. Supportively, qualitative research does not allow for the generalizability to a large population. Neither a quantitative method nor a qualitative method alone was appropriate to answer the research questions for this study. The strengths of one type of research made up for the weakness of another, thus the combination of mixed-methods research was ideal for this case study. A mixed methods approach allowed this researcher to obtain two different perspectives from the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. This provided a more comprehensive view of the perception of faculty presence, demographic influences of faculty presence and the possible challenges of faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment. The sequential transformative strategy supported the two data collection phases of this study and supported the exploration of the phenomenon of faculty presence through the lens of the CoI model. The primary purpose of sequential PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 52 Survey data collection Quantitative data analysis Convenience sample Identification Purposive Sampling Interview data collection Qualitative data analysis Interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data transformative studies is to employ methods that best serve the theoretical perspective (Creswell, 2015). The main purpose of this research was to explore the relationship between specific demographic variables and the faculty perception of the importance of faculty presence, discover possible challenges to faculty presence in the asynchronous online learning environment, explore the relationship between demographic variables and perceived challenges, document the need for change, and provide recommendations to address faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment. Case study design results in a comprehensive account of a phenomenon especially when boundaries of the phenomenon are not clear. This research method offerd insight and awareness that expanded the readers’ experiences (Merriam, 2009). In some cases, this case study approach can actually parallel actual life experience and provide the most fundamental process of understanding to a phenomenon of faculty presence at the chosen research site. (Vonderwell, 2003). A mixed methods approach was used with the case study design to answer the research questions for this study (Figure 2). Figure 2. Mixed-method research design. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 53 Setting and Participants Setting The proposed School of Nursing (SON) at a public state university located in southern California was the research site for this study. The identity of the institution will be omitted and a pseudonym will be used in this study. The SON program provides undergraduate and graduate nursing degrees via distance and online methodology. Currently, the SON has four nursing programs of which only two programs were the focus of study. The researcher focused on the online registered nurse Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) program as well as the online Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) program. Description of the Sample-Study Participants The first step in research sampling is selecting settings with high potential for information richness (Polit and Beck, 2014). This mixed-methods study will consist of a two-step process. In the first phase, convenience sampling was obtained from the population of 55 BSN and MSN faculty members in the SON. Thirty-two faculty members received the modified Community of Inquiry (CoI) Teaching Presence Scale [TPS] via email(Garrison, 1999; Kuhns, 2013). This TPS explored the relationship between demographic variables and the perception of the importance of faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment. The TPS also asked the participants demographic questions that were used to establish the level of online teaching experience of each survey respondent in order to select interview candidates for the second qualitative phase. The second phase of the study utilized purposive convenience sampling, by which participants were selected to be interviewed. This was a representative sample of the entire faculty at the proposed SON. To this end, the sample consisted of two faculty members with 1 to 5 years of online teaching experience, two faculty members with 6 to 10 years of online teaching PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 54 experience, two faculty members with 11 to 20 years of online teaching experience, and two faculty members with over twenty years of online teaching experience. Qualitative researchers use many types of nonprobability sampling designs. The rationale for using a convenience sampling is that, in convenience sampling, the researcher selects the most readily available persons as participants for the study (Polit & Beck, 2014). Another reason is the distant nature and location of the SONs full-time and part-time faculty who live in many states in the United States. Most of the faculty were readily available and are conveniently accessible because of electronic devices such as emails, Skype, collaborate and the computer (Polit & Beck, 2014). Instrumentation Based on a considerable amount of literature in which the CoI framework was used to qualitatively investigate online teaching presence, the development of the modified CoI survey was considered to be a logical next step to allow for a large scale, inferential analysis of the role of faculty presence in the online learning environment. (Arbaugh, et al, 2008). The three research questions developed were based on the purpose of this case study. The researcher used a modified CoI TPS (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013) for data collection to explore the relationship between the faculty demographic variables and the perception of the importance of faculty presence. Permission was obtained to utilize the scale for this study. The Cronbach’s alpha for the reliability of the modified scale was conducted to ensure the items on the modified TPS continued to measure the intended results. The results demonstrated high reliability with scores of .92 for the modified teaching presence scale. Eight demographic questions were included in the survey, to be utilized as a means of exploring the possible relationship between perceived faculty presence and demographic variables. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 55 Survey This study was interested in the relationship between the faculty demographic variables and the perception of the importance of faculty presence which is the reason for utilizing Kratzer-Kuhns’ (2013) modified TPS (Appendix C). The 13-item survey used a five-point Likert-type scale to explore the three components of faculty presence: design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction. The data from this survey answered the research question: What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? Independent variables. The independent variables in this study are gender, nursing faculty age, years of academic teaching experience, employment status, tenure status, academic rank, previous experience with fully online teaching, and total years of online teaching experience. Dependent variables. The dependent variable is the faculty perception of the importance of faculty presence in the asynchronous online learning environment. Interviews Follow-up interviews were conducted with a chosen sample faculty after administration of the Kratzer-Kuhns’ (2013) modified TPS. The interviews consisted of one - hour sessions per participant. A set of interview questions that were guided by the conceptual framework were developed. The interview questions (Appendix D) ensured that the lines of inquiry were pursued with each person and allowed the researcher the freedom to stimulate conversation on a predetermined course (Fry & Oishi, 1995). The possible challenges were explored by interviewing a representative sample of faculty at the research site, via phone. The 14 open- ended interview questions explored all three components of faculty presence—design and PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 56 organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction as defined in Garrison’s (1999) CoI framework, and the perceived challenges to faculty presence in the online environment. The data from the interviews will answer the two research questions: What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? What are the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? Data Collection For this study, research question 1 was answered by using the modified TPS (Kratzer- Kuhns, 2013) survey method. Research questions 2 and 3, were answered via interviews done by phone. For the first phase of the study, a modified 22-item survey (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013), was sent via email to all part-time and full-time tenured and non-tenured faculty, teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate asynchronous online program, at the proposed school of nursing in southern California. The survey instrument was used to determine if a relationship existed between faculty demographics and the faculty’s perception of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence at the SON. Demographic questions were included in the survey and were beneficial, because the baseline questions promoted engagement and connection between the interviewee and interviewer. Additionally, the demographic questions aided in the selection of the interview sample and attempted to establish a relationship between faculty presence and the independent variables. The demographic questions in the survey were used to determine if a relationship existed between perceived challenges and demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 57 The second phase of the study was conducted via interviews to further explore the perceptions of faculty presence and challenges of faculty presence. In this exploratory follow- up, the tentative plan was to explore and understand the relationships among demographic variables and the perception of faculty presence and the perceived challenges to faculty presence with nursing faculty via in-depth interviews. Qualitative methods were utilized in the form of personal interviews. Personal interviews are considered the most respected method of information gathering because of the quality of information obtained (Polit & Tatano Beck, 2014). The researcher used the phone for the interview due to the distant nature of the program and location of the respondents. The time of day was chosen by the convenience of each respondent in order to ensure that each faculty member has time to explore each question in detail. Institutional Review Board approval was obtained from the University of Southern California (Appendix E). Informed consents of the participants were received (Appendix F). Confidentiality of the surveys and interview results were maintained. Permission for use of the valid and reliable modified Community of Inquiry TPS was granted from the survey developer. Data Analysis The data analysis plan was directed by the three research questions. Research question one will determine if a relationship exists between faculty demographics and the faculty’s perception of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence at their SON. A regression analysis was employed utilizing data sets to analyze the relationship between faculty’s perceived level of importance in their role of facilitating faculty presence and the demographic variables of gender, nursing faculty age, years of academic teaching experience, employment status, tenure status, academic rank, previous experience with fully online teaching, and total PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 58 years of online teaching experience. Collected data were downloaded from Qualtrics and analyzed in SPSS. Data sets were established to allow for comparisons among online faculty demographics by using a mean score on teaching presence as a dependent variable. The second phase of this research consisted of one hour-long focused interviews with 14 interview questions that were used to collect data from interviewing the eight chosen nursing faculty. The qualitative design approach consisting of in-depth interview methods was utilized to explore the perceptions of faculty presence and challenges of faculty presence. All of the data obtained through interviews were similarly coded to ensure consistency of coding within the study. Research codes arose from sections of text transcribed from interviews. Thre types of coding were utilized in this study: open coding used in the initial organization of data, axial coding which is the interconnecting of categories, and selective coding which is the development of a story that connects the categories (Boeije, 2002). Ethical Considerations The basic underpinnings of research and professional ethics was adhered to in a number of ways. Upholding participants’ rights to confidentiality and privacy is a central tenet of this study. To protect the privacy of respondents, neither the participants’ names nor unique identifiers, were collected or recorded on the surveys. The researcher was responsible for analyzing the data. Several measures were utilized to ensure the protection rights of the study participants. As with any human subject research, the autonomy, rights of confidentiality, and full disclosure were protected. Established online software, Qualtrics was utilized. Data obtained through the survey is the sole property of the researcher and would not be used for any other purposes. The data was not accessible to anyone other than the researcher. All recordings were in the sole PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 59 possession of the researcher. All audio recordings and research data were stored on a USB securely stored in a locked drawer in the researcher’s office. Credibility and Trustworthiness The researcher utilized two methods to obtain information for this study. Surveys and individual interviews were utilized to compensate for individual limitations that may occurred due to possible shortcomings of the characteristics of individual interview techniques within qualitative research methods. Additionally, an examination of previous research findings was conducted to assess the degree to which the research results were congruent with those in past studies in the field of online education. The ability of a researcher to relate the findings to an existing body of knowledge is essential for the evaluation works of qualitative research within the constant comparative method of research (Shenton, 2004) Summary This chapter included descriptions of the research methodology and research design appropriateness. Population, sampling process, data collection, and data analysis were discussed. The instrument used to collect and analyze the data were presented and included the validity that was established. Data was entered into Qualtrics for coding and analysis of qualitative data and in SPSS for the quantitative data. For this study, research question 1 was answered by using a modified TPS (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). Research questions 2 and 3, were answered via interviews done by phone. Research question 3 was answered by utilizing the data from the survey and the interviews. The study determined the perceptions of the importance of faculty presence and the perceived challenges to faculty presence from the perspective of the online faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Discussions in this chapter also included the PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 60 confidentiality and trustworthiness plan. Chapter 4 presented the findings and analysis of the data. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 61 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS A descriptive case study utilizing sequential transformative mixed method strategy was used to explore the relationship between specific demographic variables, and the faculty perceptions of the importance of faculty presence, in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Moreover, this research sought to determine if a relationship existed between the perceived challenges and various demographic factors of the faculty at the chosen research site. Faculty presence in this study was defined by the researcher, as the feeling of students that they are being taught by an individual within the discussion forum. Faculty presence encompasses the dynamic interplay of behavior, thought, and emotion in the online learning environment. Presence was described as the way in which humans interact with each other (Casey & Kroth, 2013), which included the dynamic interplay of thought, emotion, and behavior in the online environment (Lehman & Conceicao, 2010). The purpose of chapter four was to present the findings, results, and analysis of the qualitative and quantitative data from this mixed-method research case study. In addition, this chapter consisted of the purpose of the study, a brief description of the study including the preparation to collect data, the research questions, a description of the sample or study participants, research methodology and data analysis, theme development, themes, summary, and conclusion. Because of the nature of mixed-method research both the results from the quantitative and findings from the qualitative data will be presented. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed, between the perception of the importance of the faculty role in facilitating faculty presence, and various demographic factors of the faculty, in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Further, this study sought to determine if a relationship existed between perceived PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 62 challenges of faculty presence and various demographic variables. This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? 2. What are the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? 3. Is there a relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic factors among the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in California? In analyzing the data for this study, a two-step mixed-methods research process was conducted. This process assisted in investigating faculty presence from two angles so that the research questions can be answered. The first step, which is the quantitative portion, was to examine the demographics and descriptive statistics of the sample related to research question 1. The results were then analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 24) software to understand - the faculty demographic factors that influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence. This analysis included independent samples, t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results were reviewed and compared with research question 1 and the three components of the Teaching Presence Scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). The second step was the qualitative portion where follow-up data was gathered via phone interviews using a researcher - developed questionnaire to examine research questions 2 and 3 as follows: - What are the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? Is PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 63 there a relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic factors among the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in California? This data was coded and analyzed for themes and the researcher looked for patterns that emerged. Chapter Four will review the results of these analyses, beginning with the descriptive statistics, continuing with the t-tests and ANOVA results for research question 1, followed by the qualitative data gathered in the follow-up survey for research questions 2 & 3. Description of the Sample – Study Participants This mixed-method study utilized a two-step process for sampling. In the first step, using convenience sampling, the entire Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) faculty members in the School of Nursing (SON) teaching during the study period were surveyed utilizing a Faculty Presence Scale modified from Garrison’s (1999) Teaching Presence Scale (Kratzer-Kuhn, 2013). This survey explored the perception of faculty presence experienced by the faculty in the school of nursing at a public university in southern California. This was chosen to answer research question 1, the quantitative portion of the study. The survey also asked the participants demographic questions that were used to establish the level of online teaching experience of each survey respondent. The second step of the study utilized purposive convenience sampling for follow-up interviews, where eight participants were selected, to gain a representative sample of the entire faculty at the proposed SON – the qualitative portion of the study. To this end, the sample consisted of two faculty members with 1 to 5 years of online teaching experience, two faculty members with 6 to 10 years of online teaching experience, two faculty members with 11 to 20 years of online teaching experience, and two faculty members with over twenty years of online teaching experience. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 64 Analysis of Data Data Collection Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were utilized within this study. Participant selection for the quantitative portion of the study, began via electronic communication with faculty at the SON, after receiving IRB approval from the University of Southern California, and consent from the faculty members. To enable the data collection process for the quantitative portion of the mixed-method study, and through convenience sampling, data were obtained through an online Qualtrics survey via email. Over the course of four weeks during spring semester 2017, an email request was sent along with three email reminders to 32 online faculty members. Eighteen of the thirty-two faculty members responded to the survey. This represented a 56% response rate, which according to (Polit & Beck, 2014) indicates a reasonable survey response rate. Participants gave consent for the survey and the interviews for both portions of the study. Qualtrics, a computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS), was utilized to collect the data and the raw data were assessed for consistency of the download. For the qualitative portion of the study, after consent was given, the researcher conducted interviews with eight faculty members chosen by purposive sampling. During the interview, the researcher compiled memo notes to document themes and comments. The interview took place via the telephone during the day and evening according to the participant’s convenience and averaged 60 minutes. Qualitative data was obtained from interviews. The interviews were recorded and the researcher used a professional service to transcribe the responses from the interview participants. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 65 Data Analysis Data was transferred to the SPSS 24 for the final analysis process. The SPSS 24 allowed the researcher to efficiently organize the quantitative data so that the results can be formulated. The results from the quantitative data were analyzed utilizing statistical methods to understand the relationship between the variables within the research question. This analysis included independent samples t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings from the interview, qualitative data were analyzed for common themes identified utilizing structural equation modeling. This chapter will review the findings of the quantitative data analysis, starting with descriptive statistics, followed by the t-tests, and ANOVA results, which will be grouped by the research questions and will conclude with an analysis of the qualitative data gathered in the follow - up interviews. Presentation of Results and Findings Because of the mixed-methods research design, both results (quantitative) and findings (qualitative) will be presented. The information will be presented first, according to the three research questions, secondly, according to the three components of the Community of Inquiry (CoI) theoretical framework (Garrison, 1999) and lastly according to themes. The results of the first research question will be reported. This was the quantitative portion of the study where the researcher used a 13-item modified Teaching Presence survey (Kratzer-Kuhn, 2013) with a five- point Likert-type scale to explore three components of faculty presence: design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction. Description of Study Participants Table 1 summarizes the demographic composition of the participants. This research study included 18 participants, consisting of online nursing faculty from the school of nursing program PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 66 in a university in southern California, resulting in 18 participants. The majority of the respondents were female (n=17, 94.4%) and were above the age of 61 years of age (n=11, 61.1%). Additionally, the majority of the participants were part-time faculty members (n=10, 55.6%) with eight full-time faculty (n=8, 44.4%). Most faculty members held non-tenure track positions (n=10, 55.6%) while only six faculty members were tenured (n=6, 33.3%) and two faculty held a tenure-track position (n=2, 11.1%). A variety of academic rank was noted with the majority of respondents being lecturers (n=6, 33.3%) and adjunct faculty (n=4, 22.2%). There were four faculty members with the title of professor (n=4, 22.2%). The majority of faculty had over 21 years of academic teaching experience (n=11, 61.1%) while only four faculty had academic teaching experience (n=4, 22.2%). From this data, there seems to be more part-time than full-time faculty in this study. Table 1 Summary of Participant Demographics Including Percent and Numbers Variable Comparison Sample Percent n=18 Sample Number n=18 Gender Male Female 5.56% 94.44% 1 17 Age 51-60 61+ 38.89% 61.11% 7 11 Academic Teaching Position Full-time Part-time 44.44% 55.56% 8 10 Academic Rank Adjunct Faculty Lecturer Assistant Professor Associate Professor Professor 22.22% 33.33% 11.11% 11.11% 22.22% 4 6 2 2 4 Academic Teaching Experience 6 to 10 years 11 to 20 years 21+ years 22.22% 16.67% 61.11% 4 3 11 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 67 Participant Educational Experience Table 2 summarizes the educational profile of the study participants. The majority of participants reported, that they participated in professional development classes related to online learning (n=6, 33.3%). The majority respondents also had 11-20 years of experience teaching online (n=7, 38.9%). The second highest group had 6-10 years of experience teaching online (N=6, 33.3%). Only two faculty members had 1-5 years of experience teaching online (n=2, 11.1%) and on the opposite end three faculty members had 21+ years teaching online (n-3, 16.7%). Table 2 Summary of Participant Faculty Development/Online Educational Experience Variable Comparison Sample Percent n=18 Sample Number n=18 Professional development related to online education No Yes, 1-2 classes Yes, 3-4 classes Yes, 5-6 classes Yes, 1-7 or more classes 5.56% 22.22% 27.78% 11.11% 33.33% 1 4 5 2 6 Years of Online Experience 1 to 5 years 6 to 10 years 11 to 20 years 21+ years 11.11% 33.33% 38.89% 16.67% 2 6 7 3 Analysis: Mixed Method Study The first research question of this study – the quantitative portion - investigated the relationship between the faculty demographic variables and the perception of the importance of faculty presence, which was the reason for utilizing Kratzer-Kuhns’ (2013) modified Teaching Presence Scale (TPS). The 13-item survey with a five-point Likert-type scale was used to explore the three components of faculty presence: design and organization, facilitating discourse, PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 68 and direct instruction. The data from this survey answered the research question: What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? The independent variables in this study were gender, nursing faculty age, years of academic teaching experience, employment status, tenure status, academic rank, previous experience with fully online teaching, and total years of online teaching experience. The dependent variable is the faculty perception of the importance of faculty presence in the asynchronous online learning environment. In order to compare the means of the three components of faculty presence, the mean of the TBS was calculated as a dependent variable and the responses as the independent variable. The original scale of the survey was weighted from highest to lowest (On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being essential and 5 being not important). For data measurement purposes in order to weight the scale from low to high, the scale was reweighted to 1 being not important and 5 as essential. The results for the three components of faculty presence (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013) were the following: Design and organization. The design and organization component of the Modified TPS survey was evaluated by four questions within the survey. Questions 10 through 13 of the Modified TPS measured Design and Organization within the CoI theoretical framework (Table 3). Table 3 Design and Organization TPS Questions Q10 I clearly communicate important course information required to assist my students’ learning. Q11 I clearly communicate important course goals. Q12 I provide clear instructions on how to participate in course learning activities. Q13 I communicate important due dates/time frames for learning activities. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 69 The mean score for Design and Organization was 19.61 (SD=.60), which revealed that there is not a considerable amount of variance between the participants’ responses to the survey, with the minimum score of 18 and the maximum of 20 (Table 4). On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not important and 5 being essential, the mean score for the Design and Organization element was 19.6 (SD=0.608). Table 4 Design and Organization Design and Organization N Valid 18 Missing 0 Mean 19.61 Std. Deviation .60 Minimum 18.00 Maximum 20.00 Comparatively, Table 5 demonstrated that there were no significant differences associated with the relationship between age (p=0.83), academic status (p=0.93), academic teaching position (p=0.93), current academic rank (p=0.87), professional development (p=0.96) years of online experience (p=0.32), and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence on the Design and Organizational scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). Table 5 Design and Organization Scale Variable Mean Standard Deviation P Value Age AGE: 51-60 19.57 0.786 0.83 AGE: 61+ 19.63 0.504 Teaching Status Full-time 19.62 0.51 0.93 Part-time 19.60 0.699 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 70 Table 5, continued Variable Mean Standard Deviation P Value Academic Teaching Position Tenured 19.50 0.54 0.62 Tenure-track 20.00 0.0 Non-tenure track 19.61 0.69 Academic Rank Adjunct Faculty 19.00 0.81 0.87 Lecturer 20.00 0.0 Assistant Professor 20.00 0.0 Associate Professor 19.50 0.70 Professor 19.50 0.57 Years of Experience 6-10 years of experience 20.00 0.0 11-20 years of experience 19.33 1.15 0.32 21+ years of experience 19.54 0.522 Professional development 1-2 classes 19.50 1.00 3-4 classes 19.60 0.54 0.96 5-6 classes 19.50 0.70 7 or more classes 19.66 0.51 Years of online experience 1-5 years 20.00 0.0 6-10 years 19.50 0.83 0.32 11-20 years 19.57 0.53 21+ years 19.66 0.57 Facilitating discourse. The facilitating discourse component of the Modified TPS survey was evaluated by six questions within the survey. Questions 14 through 19 of the TPS measured Facilitating Discourse within the CoI theoretical framework (Table 6). Table 6 Facilitating Discourse TPS Questions Q14 I help course participants identify areas of agreement and disagreement on course topics that help them learn. Q15 I help to keep course participants engaged in productive dialogue. Q16 I keep the course participants on task in a way that helped me to learn. Q17 I encourage course participants to explore new concepts in courses. Q18 I reinforce the development of a sense of community among course participants. Q19 I help course participants explore new concepts in my courses. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 71 The mean score for Facilitating Discourse was 19.8 (SD=2.6), which revealed that there was a considerable amount of variance between the participants’ responses in the survey with the minimum score of 15 and the maximum of 24 (Table 7). Table 7 Facilitating Discourse Facilitating Discourse N Valid 18 Missing 0 Mean 19.77 Std. Deviation 2.57 Minimum 15.00 Maximum 24.00 Table 8 revealed that there were no significant differences associated with the relationship between age (p=0.78), academic status (p=0.35), academic teaching position (p=0.61), current academic rank (p=0.72), and professional development (p=0.63), and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence on the Facilitating Discourse scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). Table 8 Facilitating Discourse Scale VARIABLE MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION P VALUE Age AGE: 51-60 20.00 2.82 0.78 AGE: 61+ 19.63 2.54 Teaching Status Full-time 19.12 2.90 0.35 Part-time 20.30 2.31 Academic Teaching Position Tenured 19.33 2.58 0.61 Tenure-track 18.50 4.94 Non-tenure track 20.30 2.31 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 72 Table 8, continued Note. *p<.05 Conversely, the inferential analysis in Table 4d revealed a significant difference between one variable associated with the years of academic teaching experience (p =.03) and facilitating discourse on the Facilitating Discourse scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). The p value of .03 reveals that there is a significant difference between the years of online teaching experience and the perception of the importance of facilitating discourse. In order to determine the difference between the participants’ years of experience within this subset, a post hoc analysis was conducted. The post hoc analysis utilized was a Bonferroni analysis. The Bonferroni analysis showed that the faculty members with 6 to 10 years of experience were statistically different than those participants with 11 to 20 years of experience as evidence of the p value of .049 within the Bonferroni analysis (Table 9). VARIABLE MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION P VALUE Academic Rank Adjunct Faculty 19.25 2.62 0.72 Lecturer 21.00 2.00 Assistant Professor 18.50 4.94 Associate Professor 19.00 2.82 Professor 19.50 2.88 Years of Experience 6-10 years of experience 22.50 1.29 11-20 years of experience 18.00 3.00 0.03* 21+ years of experience 19.27 2.19 Professional development 1-2 classes 19.75 2.06 3-4 classes 20.00 3.08 0.63 5-6 classes 17.00 2.82 7 or more classes 20.33 2.65 Years of online experience 1-5 years 22.50 2.12 6-10 years 19.66 2.94 0.43 11-20 years 19.00 2.70 21+ years 20.00 1.00 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 73 Table 9 Bonferroni Analysis Years of Online Teaching Experience P Value 6 to 10 years (mean 22.50)  11 to 20 years (mean 18.00) .049 6 to 10 years (mean 22.50)  21+ years (mean 19.27) .068 11 to 20 years (mean 18.00)  21+ years (mean 19.27) 1.00 The research confirmed that this difference demonstrated that faculty members with 6 to 10 years of experience (mean 22.50) believed facilitating discourse was important compared to faculty members with 11 to 20 years of experience (mean 18.00). Conversely, the research revealed that there is no difference in the years of experience between faculty members with 6 to 10 years of experience and those with over 21+ years of experience (p.068). Additionally, there was no relationship between faculty members with 11 to 20 years of experience and faculty members with 21+ years of experience (p 1.00). Consequently, the research demonstrated the differences associated with the relationship between the years of experience and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence. Further, the research also revealed that faculty members with less teaching experience perceived facilitating discourse as an important component of the CoI Framework. Direct instruction. The direct instruction component of the Modified TPS survey was evaluated by three questions within the survey. Questions 10 through 13 of the TPS measured Design and Organization within the CoI theoretical framework (Table 10). Table 10 Direct Instruction TPS Questions Q10 While teaching your online courses(s) did you encounter any barriers or challenges? Q11 Describe for me your overall experience teaching online course(s)? Q12 Reflect on your earliest experience teaching online courses, is there anything you would do differently at this point in your career teaching online? PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 74 The mean score for Direct Instruction was 8.77 (SD=1.06), which revealed that there was a considerable amount of variance between the participants’ responses in the survey with the minimum score of 7 and the maximum of 10 (Table 11). Table 11 Direct Instruction Direct Instruction N Valid 18 Missing 0 Mean 8.77 Std. Deviation 1.06 Minimum 7.00 Maximum 10.00 On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not important and 5 being essential, the mean score for the Direct Instruction element was 8.7 (SD=1.06). Comparatively, Table 5c demonstrated that there were no significant differences associated with the relationship between age (p=0.80), academic status (p=0.92), academic teaching position (p=0.93), current academic rank (p=0.98), professional development (p=0.40) and years of online experience (p=0.72), and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence on the Direct Instruction scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013) (Table 12). Table 12 Direct Instruction Scale VARIABLE MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION P VALUE Age AGE: 51-60 8.85 1.06 0.80 AGE: 61+ 8.72 1.10 Teaching Status Full-time 8.75 1.28 0.92 Part-time 8.80 0.91 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 75 Table 12, continued VARIABLE MEAN STANDARD DEVIATION P VALUE Teaching Position Tenured 8.83 1.16 0.93 Tenure-track 8.50 2.12 Non-tenure track 8.80 0.91 Academic Rank Adjunct Faculty 8.75 0.95 0.98 Lecturer 8.83 0.98 Assistant Professor 8.50 2.12 Associate Professor 8.50 0.70 Professor 9.00 1.41 Years of Experience 6-10 years of experience 9.25 0.95 11-20 years of experience 8.33 1.15 0.53 21+ years of experience 8.72 1.10 Professional development 1-2 classes 8.50 0.57 3-4 classes 9.20 1.09 0.40 5-6 classes 7.50 0.70 7 or more classes 9.00 1.26 Years of online experience 1-5 years 9.50 0.70 6-10 years 8.50 1.04 0.72 11-20 years 8.71 1.25 21+ years 9.00 1.00 The Challenges to Faculty Presence Research question 2 explored, the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment, in the school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Follow-up interviews were conducted with a chosen representative sample of the faculty. Eight faculty members were chosen via purposeful sampling and represented a sample of the faculty at the university. Two faculty members with 1 to 5 years of online teaching experience (participant #1 and #2), two faculty members with 6 to 10 years of online teaching experience (participant #3 and #4), two faculty members with 11 to 20 years of online teaching experience (participant #5 and #6), and two faculty members with over twenty years of online PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 76 teaching experience (participant #7 and participant #8), provided the sample for collecting qualitative data Table 13). Table 13 Online Teaching Experience of Interview Participants Participant Years of Online Teaching Experience Years Teaching at This Site 1 4 4 2 3 3 3 5 6 4 8 8 5 15 18 6 14 16 7 18 24 8 19 25 Participants were asked to identify perceived challenges to online presence. Key themes emerged from in-depth interviews. Theme Development After giving consent, participants were asked to identify perceived challenges to the online learning environment. Major themes emerged from in-depth interviews from research question 2 through the frequency of response to the question. Open, axial, and selective coding together with the constant comparative method allowed the themes to emerge. The findings for the qualitative portion of the study were reviewed with the intention to discover themes or patterns. Nine themes emerged in this case study. The researcher narrowed the themes to those most frequently occurring in the coding process. The themes that emerged were rewards, workload, lack of administrative support, course quality, utilization of technology, faculty development, lack of release time to develop courses, realism, and motivation. The major themes PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 77 that frequently occurred in the research were Realism, Motivation, Utilization of Technology, and Faculty Development. The major themes were the focus of this discussion and will be discussed in detail below. Themes Realism Realism emerged as a major theme for this study. Twenty-five percent of the faculty members interviewed mentioned Realism factors as significant. Feelings of Realism are one of the ways in which faculty experienced a sense of presence in the online learning environment. This can occur by perceiving the online environment as being real as a traditional the face-to- face classroom environment. Realism applies to the degree that a medium (virtual classrooms, online learning systems) can create a mediated environment that looks/feels real to the user (Lehman & Conceição, 2010). The interaction between faculty and students were affected by the quality of presence. Participants’ were asked to identify perceived challenges to online presence. The findings noted that the online faculty at the local university believed the online learning environment created a sense of disconnect due to the lack of face-to-face interaction resulting in a challenging environment as it relates to a sense of Realism. Numerous participants identified the lack of face-to-face interaction as a major challenge to faculty presence in their online learning environment. Participant #4 believed the online atmosphere was challenging due to the lack of face-to-face interaction. She stated: Well, I kind of feel like there isn't really any faculty presence because I don't interact with the students face-to-face at all. I've never seen them face-to-face. The only way I know who looks like what is from the pictures they post on their post...With their names and stuff. It's been quite a challenge for me to be honest. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 78 Similarly, participant #7 noted the online learning environment fosters a sense of disconnect that is not present in the traditional learning environment. The ways in which faculty members interact with their students have been supported in the literature. Teaching/Faculty presence has been associated with promoting a sense of Realism within this environment (Cobb, 2003). The lack of face-to-face interaction in the online learning environment has been noted to make the promotion of faculty presence difficult for the student/faculty relationship (Bangert, 2009). Interview respondents in this study identified the lack of this component as one of the many challenges of online challenges. Participant #7 stated: I guess one thing that I've noticed is it's depersonalized I think not being able to meet someone face to face there is a different relationship. And I think anyone would agree that when you put a face to a name and that person puts a face to a name with us the relationship is true. Participant #3’s statements of the difficulty and depersonalization of the environment further supported the difficulty with the lack of face-to-face interaction and its resulting depersonalization of the online asynchronous environment. Within the Community of Inquiry model that guided the theoretical framework, social presence was an essential component that fostered and promoted comfort associated with the personalized feeling of face-to-face interaction in the online learning environment (Garrison, Cleveland-Innes, & Fung, 2010). This was also supported in participant #7’s comment “That you don’t have the same level of connectedness and understanding, and it’s harder to socialize them into a professional model when they’re online.” The faculty in the research site noted difficulty with connectedness resulting in a lack of realism within the online learning environment. This lack of realism was associated with the PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 79 motivational challenges of the online learning environment. The literature supported the assertion that motivation generates the mental effort that encourages individuals to apply knowledge and skills (Clark, 2003). Respondents noted the depersonalized environment of the lack of face-to-face interaction that made it difficult to motivate students. Within Participant #2’s statements, this was seen as one of the noted challenges in their online learning environment. So, I think that by going through a whole course and not having face time with a student or a group of students it does have challenges because when it's when it's depersonalized it seems like motivating them it is a bit more of a challenge. The traditional model of teaching face to face has been augmented with numerous tools and technology. This augmentation has significant influential effects on student learning in the online learning environment. It was well noted that student engagement experienced in the traditional model of teaching is a multifaceted phenomenon that stems from a complex combination of factors related to the instructional and institutional environment (LaNasa, Cabrea, & Trangsrud, 2009). Motivation Motivational causes emerged as one of the major themes in this study. Fifty percent of the faculty members interviewed mentioned motivational factors as significant. The inference the faculty members make about the students in the SON was noted as a significant influence on teaching practice and faculty presence. This played a significant role in the demonstration of social presence, and the experience of faculty presence, in the online learning environment among the participants studied. In Muilenburg and Berge (2001) study, the faculty identified administrative support, organizational changes, and difficulties with student social interaction as most pressing issues relating to the challenges of online teaching. (Alavi & Gallupe, 2003). PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 80 Participant #8 believed that there was more accountability in traditional settings as opposed to the online setting. It was noted by the participant that the lack of face to face camouflages a students’ lack of preparedness thus causing student accountability to suffer in this online environment. There is accountability with face-to-face. You have to be prepared and if you don't either the student our faculty it shows. Online because you don't have that accountability you can show up half prepared and you don't know if the students are not prepared. This lack of accountability is seen as one of the motivational factors that made faculty presence challenging in the online environment. The literature noted a significant relationship between faculty perceptions of engagement to faculty behavior. One such study by Schunk, Meece, and Pintrich (2012) found that there was a direct connection of student behavioral engagement to faculty subsequent behavior, which predicts subsequent faculty involvement. This study noted similar findings as evidence of Participant #5’s response, which noted that the student’s motivation and preparedness had a significant effect on their motivation to put forth maximum effort when teaching their online students. When asked about the effectiveness of their online teaching it was noted that the students’ engagement affected their online teaching practice and faculty presence. Participant #5 said: I can be more effective if my students are more motivated. This is causing me to have some reflection too because I don't put out as much at (study site) as in other schools. I don't feel students meet me halfway. I am more proficient when students are more academically motivated. The lack of student involvement and engagement was noted as a source of frustration for faculty at this research site. The demotivation factor of the students’ lack of engagement was PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 81 additionally noted by participant #4 as a barrier to helping the student learn and navigate the course successfully, “Sometimes the meeting, the communication among back and forth can be problematic. It's quite challenging to work with the student that's absent and doesn't tell you what's going on. So, that can be difficult to know how to help them learn.” Participant #6 corroborated this finding by supportively stating that supporting faculty presence in the online learning environment is challenging when students do not participate in a satisfactory manner in the course. I think online courses are more difficult to teach than live courses. They take more time. They can be frustrating because if people aren't answering you or aren't showing up or aren't responding to questions it can be really frustrating for faculty. This study showed that student participation and engagement affected faculty motivation. Thus supporting the literature of the relationship between faculty motivation and student engagement. According to Kuh, Cruce, Shoup, Kinzie, and Gonyea (2008) student engagement is composed of two essential variables: (1) the effort, which institutions devote to utilizing effective educational practices, and (2) the energy, that students invest in educational activities. Additionally, Sharan and Tan (2008) found that perceived engagement aided in promoting a personal connection with the subject matter in addition to being an essential component in forging a personal connection with the faculty thus supporting faculty presence. Utilization of Technology Thirty percent of the faculty members interviewed mentioned technical factors as significant. The demands of teaching online require the understanding of content, and how to present content in an academic environment utilizing technology (Conceicao, 2006; Smith et al, PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 82 2009). It is vital that online curriculum is supported by sound instructional design, which fosters critical thinking and sound decision-making. Participant #7 identified the influence of technical support and her ability to succeed in the online learning environment. It was noted that the lack of available technology resources was an impediment to the promotion of faculty presence within the online environment. This was evident by the participant’s response: The computer support for those of us, who are the permanent per diem types, and the learning tools and stuff, really were not available in the beginning. It was a go-and-guess or asks questions, and hopefully, you made a friend of somebody who was on tenure- track who knew how to work some of these things. Participant #3 identified some of the technical difficulties she experienced was due to her lack of experience with the online Blackboard platform. In turn, this lack of experience was noted as a significant challenge to her practice as an online educator. Also noted was the amount of time needed to develop the course was extensive due to this lack of experience and training. The first concern was the platform Blackboard, ... I don't think I fully grasped all of the complexities and wonderful features, so it was very difficult to respond to students without it taking a long time and a lot of effort. In addition to the lack of technical training, participants identified the lack of assistance with developing their online course. Participants noted that the lack of technical training and mentorship was one of the challenging aspects of learning to teach online, “It was not offered at the research site. There was nothing really in the way of training. The training that I got was for in class instruction. I really didn't get any training to help me develop my courses at all.” PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 83 Similarly, in this study Smith, et al., 2009 found that the participants in their study were mostly challenged by the lack of technology support for their faculty members who were less technology adapt. The differences between online courses and face-to-face courses must be considered. The introduction of implementation of online instructional design and technology has created numerous challenges for online line faculty. In Smith, et al. (2009) multi-site descriptive study the researcher noted that the introduction of the technology utilized in online teaching had increased the workload of many faculty members who were not expecting technology to be the significant focus of their academic career (Smith, Passmore, & Faught, 2009). Faculty Development Twenty percent of the faculty members interviewed mentioned faculty development factors as significant. The context and backgrounds of online faculty differ, regardless of the utilization of the same medium within the online learning environment. Fang (2007) noted the importance of two factors within the designing faculty-development interventions in an online learning environment: adoption and effectiveness of online teaching. The participants revealed many challenging aspects the department’s lack of fostering and supporting faculty development in the current institution studied. However, the research also revealed numerous positive aspects of faculty development initiatives within the research site. Challenges noted related to the lack of faculty development and support. Participants stated that they developed strategies for teaching online by trial and error as they learned to navigate the online learning environment from the faculty perspective. Participant # 6 identified trial and error as a strategy to learn how to teach online “Yeah, sometimes it was trial and error, …The first year was just like trying to keep my head above water, …” Similarly, Participant #1, PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 84 identified faculty development as one of the essential mission components of her in-service. The participant stated that a more robust faculty development plan would be better for her development as an online faculty member. This was evident by her statement: “Maybe more training on Blackboard would have been better because all I got was that one 45-minute class.” Conversely, some of the more senior faculty members at the research site credited faculty development support as an influential factor in their success in teaching online. The participants identified many faculty development initiatives and workshops during the inception of the online program. Some of the positive attributes on the research site’s faculty development initiatives were seen are participant #7’s statement: Our department worked together with a specialist, several specialists. We had an IT specialist just for the School of Nursing, just to get us online. We had the Blackboard people, the Blackboard representative there. We had instructors from previous online programs, nursing program, and other disciplines. We had I think about six months’ worth of training then we rolled out the program. Similarly, in support of the helpful faculty development initiatives during the early years of developing the online program at the research site. Participants in this study identified “brown bag” informal faculty development workshops as helpful in helping them navigate the new online platform in the department. Participant #6 notes that the implementation of “brown bag” workshops where staff came together and exchanged ideas and strategies were mentioned as an influential component in helping new staff navigate the online platform in the school of nursing at the research site. We started this program in 2000. We had lunchtime brown bags. Everybody had to go on campus, and everyone came with a question, and everyone came with a method that they PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 85 found helpful. Those informal exercises were very helpful, the brown bags. And you'd talk freely, and we gave ideas. Supportively Participant # 8 touted the faculty support and mentorship during the “brown bag” lunches as one of the ways staff members can share and exchange ideas for best practices regarding online teaching thus improving faculty presence, “Where we were sharing best practices, there was a lot of faculty support. We were talking about what we were doing and how we were implementing it.” Shea, Pickett, and Perez (2003), reviewed ongoing issues of pedagogy and faculty development, and their relationship to student satisfaction, and reported learning. Using the three components of the teaching presence – Instructional Design and Organization, Facilitating Discourse, and Direct Instruction the researchers noted agreement about statements reflecting good practices in instructional design and organization as an essential component to faculty presence in the online environment. As the use of online learning continues to improve accessibility in nursing academia, online teaching continues to be an intimidating experience for educators. Vitale (2010) noted the lack of understanding of how to sustain a community of active learners exist among novice faculty. It is essential for new faculty to acquire knowledge of fundamental strategies needed to effectively teach online courses. The Perceived Challenges of Faculty Presence and Demographic Factors Research question 3 explores the possible relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence, and the demographic factors, among the faculty in the school of nursing, at a public university in California. The research identifies a relationship between the sub-category of Facilitation with Faculty Presence, and the level of online experience. The interview responses noted a significant difference between the faculty members with less online teaching experience. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 86 The faculty members with 1-5 and 6-10 years expressed a lack of preparation for their role as an online faculty member. While, faculty members with 11-20 and 21+ years of experience credit the department’s faculty development courses and “Brown Bag” lunches, as essential for their success and comfort, in transitioning from face-to-face teaching to online teaching at the research site. The research revealed that faculty members with less than 11 years experience at the research site expressed frustration with the lack of support in the beginning of their term at the research site. Participants with less than 11 years of experience stated that there was limited support for their learning and development. New instructors were not given in - services by experienced faculty members. These faculty members stated that they should have had more support to help them understand the elements of the Blackboard. Some mention the need to “self- school” themselves in order to learn how to teach in the online setting. Participant #4 noted the difficulty of trying to figure out how to teach online, Yeah, I think there could be certainly more support, particularly for brand new instructors to really understand those elements. I mean, I was pretty self-schooled and I'm not sure everyone would put that much effort into trying to figure it out. Supportively, respondents said that it took longer to develop courses than anticipated due to the lack of support and training. The literature noted that online preparation alone consumes a lot of the faculty’s time during the preparation phase of developing courses. Alexander et al., (2003) noted a decline in younger faculty because of the time and effort online teaching require (Bates, 2000). Additionally, Alexander, et al., (2003) argued that integrating online learning into the curriculum was deterred by the amount of faculty time it took to create online materials. “Creating one hour of web instruction takes an average of about 18 hours of faculty time” PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 87 (Boettcher & Conrad, 1999, p 30). When asked if their department provided them with training participant #3 said: I really didn't get any training to help me develop my courses at all. With that being said, between “A”, and “B”, and “C”, who's our IT person, I was able to get help, but I would say, yeah the first two years that I worked there, I was working 12 hours a day because I did not know how to teach online Participant #2 cooperatively noted that work load increases made it more difficult for her to get support from faculty regarding in services and workshops: “I found that the more courses they started offering me it was more and more of a challenge trying to get faculty support.” In Hiltz’ et al., (2007), study the instructors noted the need of support from administration for the amount of time and energy it took to design and facilitate online courses. Many faculty felt that they were not being rewarded and sometimes devalued by the institution and many of their colleagues. In contrast, faculty members with greater than 11 years of experience at the research site spoke about “brown bag” lunch sessions, support groups, and excellent mentorships that supported faculty during the early phases of adopting a new online program at the research site. Participants with greater than 11 years of experience stated that the incorporation of “brown bag” lunches was useful in helping them learn and navigate the online learning environment. To illustrate, participant #7 stated: We started this program in 2000, we used to have these brown bags, which were so helpful. We ate lunch and we talked about, our challenges, and our frustration. Everybody had to go on campus, and everyone came with a question, and everyone came with a method that they use in facilitating online instruction. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 88 Comparatively, Participant #8 supported this finding by stating “brown bag” lunches significantly influenced her ability to teach online. This, in turn, upported this participant’s ability to create an environment where faculty presence was fostered and supported in her online classroom. This was seen in her statement of “The whole program was going online and there was a big seminar that we had, and we had these brown bag meetings all the time… Where we were sharing best practices so there was a lot of faculty support.” Faculty members with greater than 11 years of experience, stated that mentorship had significantly influenced their online instructional development. It was noted that certain faculty members taught novice faculty and shared best practices within the department’s mentorship program. Stellar mentors were noted as significant contributors to success and comfort with the online teaching of many novice faculty members at the research site. This was evident in Participant #6’s statement of “My co-teachers been amazing with helping me navigate all this other stuff through Blackboard. She's been really awesome.” “Social comfort in an online environment is a function of Teacher Presence as it is usually the faculty that creates an environment that allows the student to engage and participate comfortably in the online discussions and other social forums in the class”. (p. 219) The literature supported the notion that student engagement affected how the faculty experiences faculty presence as it relates to their teaching practices. The participants noted the lack of preparation as one of the challenging aspects of the online learning environment. Faculty presence helps to construct a sense of community and was found to be a strong predictor of student satisfaction and learning outcomes (Cobb, 2011). Students attending an online class should expect a predetermined amount of faculty presence during the teaching sessions. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 89 Summary A descriptive case study utilizing sequential transformative mixed method strategy was used to explore the relationship between specific demographic variables and the faculty perceptions of the importance of faculty presence in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Moreover, this research sought to determine if a relationship exists between the perceived challenges and various demographic factors of the faculty at the chosen research site. In Chapter Four, the results and findings were presented. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 18 faculty members using a two-step mixed-methods research process. This process assisted the researcher in investigating faculty presence from two angles so that the research questions can be answered. An analysis of the qualitative (interview) and quantitative (survey) data from this mixed- method research case study was also presented. The 13-item survey with a five-point Likert-type scale was used to explore the three components of faculty presence: design and organization, facilitating discourse, and direct instruction. Participants represented various ages, academic and online teaching experiences. The inferential analysis revealed a significant difference among one variable (p <.03) associated with the years of academic teaching experience and facilitating faculty presence on the Facilitation scale. There were no significant differences on two of the three components of the Teaching Faculty Presence instruments. The researcher used the SPSS 24 software for quantitative analysis. All of the data obtained through interviews were similarly coded to ensure consistency of coding within the study. A professional transcribing service was used to assist in data gathering, organization, coding, to document accurate participants’ responses. The major themes emerged from the PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 90 interview responses during the qualitative portion of the analysis. The themes were Realism, Motivation, Utilization of Technology, and Faculty Development. The sub themes.......... The research findings demonstrate that there were no significant differences associated with the relationship between age, academic teaching position, current academic rank, professional development and years of online experience and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence on the Design and Organizational scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). The inferential analysis revealed a significant difference among one variable (p <.03) associated with the years of academic teaching experience and facilitating faculty presence on the Facilitation scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). Therefore, the research demonstrates the differences associated with the relationship between the years of experience and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence. On a scale of 1-5, with 1 being not at all important and 5 being essential, the mean score for the third component Direct Instruction the mean was 8.8 (SD=1.06). Conversely, inferential analysis revealed that there were no significant differences associated with the relationship among any of the independent variables – age, academic teaching experience, employment status, tenure status, academic rank previous online teaching and total years of online teaching - and facilitating faculty presence on the Direct Instruction scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). In Chapter 5, a discussion of the results and findings from the quantitative and qualitative data will be done. Limitations, Conclusions and recommendations for further study were also be included. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 91 CHAPTER FIVE: DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS Chapter five will present a discussion and summary of the findings of the study, limitations, implications for nursing education and practice, nurse administrators and faculty in nursing schools. Additionally, recommendations for future research and conclusion are included. The chosen design for this study which focused on factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence, possible challenges to faculty presence and whether there was a relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic factors among the faculty. Enrollment in online learning is rapidly increasing (Croxton, 2014; Chen, Lambert & Guidry, 2010), making the issue of quality online learning environments one of importance to instructors and administrators. As noted in Chapter two, according to a 2012 survey report based on responses from over 2,800 academic leaders, more than 6.7 million students—32 percent of total higher education enrollment—took at least one online course through a university during fall 2011. Because of this surge in online nursing programs, it is imperative that the issue of faculty presence as it relates to student satisfaction be addressed. As online education expands, academic institutions need to call attention to the quality of education they are providing. It is important to solve this issue of low faculty presence in the online environment because there is a direct relationship between social presence in the form of faculty presence, interaction and engagement as predictors of perceived learning (Cobb, 2011). As noted in chapter one, currently only 65 percent of students are satisfied with faculty engagement, interaction, and presence in School of Nursing at a public university. The results obtained from this research can help alleviate the problem of low satisfaction scores related to faculty presence in online teaching and learning in nursing programs. The CoI framework PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 92 (Figure 1) developed by Garrison, Anderson & Archer (1999) and the modified Teaching Presence Scale (TPS) (Kratzer-Kuhns 2013) provided the guiding framework used to explore the relationship between demographic variables and the perception of the importance of faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment. In Chapter one, presence is described as the way in which humans interact with each other (Casey & Kroth, 2013). Additionally, again in Chapter one, Social presence is noted as “the degree to which a person is perceived as ‘real’ in mediated communication” (Gunawardena, 1995, p. 151). Continuing, teaching presence is important for the creation and promotion of cognitive exchange within the online academic environment (Richardson, 2003). Numerous researchers have stated that faculty presence affects outcomes. In the researcher’s literature search as noted by Cobb (2011), faculty presence has been linked to increased online student satisfaction and perceived learning. Comparatively, in Eom and Wen’s (2006) study the researchers found that faculty presence in the form of instructor feedback as the most influential in promoting perceived learning among online students. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between the perception of the importance of the faculty role in facilitating faculty presence and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Further, this study sought to determine if a relationship exists between perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic variables. This descriptive case study was used to explore the relationship between specific demographic variables and the faculty perceptions of the importance of faculty presence in a school of nursing at a public university in Southern California. This research explored the relationship that exists between the perceived challenges and various demographic factors of the faculty at the chosen research site. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 93 This study sought to answer the following research questions: 1. What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? 2. What are the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? 3. Is there a relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic factors among the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in California. Summary and Findings This descriptive case study was used to explore the relationship between specific demographic variables and the faculty perceptions of the importance of faculty presence in a school of nursing at a public university in Southern California. This research explored the relationship exists between the perceived challenges and various demographic factors of the faculty at the chosen research site. “Social comfort in an online environment is a function of Teacher Presence as it is usually the faculty that creates an environment that allows the student to engage and participate comfortably in the online discussions and other social forums in the class” (Carlon, et al., p. 219) The discussion of the results and findings will be presented in the same format as presented in Chapter four. The findings in this study support the literature that barriers to faculty presence affect how the faculty experiences faculty presence as it relates to their teaching practices. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 94 Research Question 1 What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? The inferential analysis revealed a significant difference among one variable associated with the years of academic teaching experience and facilitating faculty presence on the Facilitating Discourse scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). Therefore, the research demonstrates the differences associated with the relationship between the years of experience and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence. The research found years of online experience as one of the variables that are associated with the faculty’s perceived importance of facilitating discourse in the online learning environment. There were no significant differences associated with the relationship between age, academic status, academic teaching position, current academic rank, and professional development, and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence within the CoI sub-components, which were Direct Instruction and Design and Organization. Research Question 2 What are the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? The findings from research question two revealed four main conclusions supported by the themes that emerged from this study: 1. Not all faculty experience the sense of faculty presence and realism in the same way 2. Student effort significantly influences faculty presence and motivation in the online learning environment. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 95 3. Faculty development enhances the experience of faculty presence in the online learning environment. 4. The utilization of technology and support of technology enhances the level of comfort of teaching online. Realism and faculty presence. Based on deductive inquiry, the study findings confirm that the online nursing faculty experience a sense of presence within the online learning environment. However, the findings suggest that not all faculty experience the sense of presence in the same way. The feeling of realism is one way faculty members experience presence. Within this study, not all faculty experienced a sense of realism as it relates to faculty presence in the online learning environment. According to Garrison, Anderson, and Archer, 1999 realism in the form of social presence is a vital element that is often presented as an ongoing goal of higher education. The second essential element of the model, social presence which is defined as “the ability of participants in the Community of Inquiry to project their personal characteristics into the community, thereby presenting themselves to other participants as ‘real people’.” (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999, p. 89). Social presence indirectly supports cognitive presence by facilitating critical thinking of the community of learners. It is noted that social presence is highly correlated to educational success in online education. Motivation and faculty presence. Student effort significantly influences faculty presence and motivation in the online learning environment. The study also revealed that student motivation in the form of the effort in which a student devotes to the educational experience could affect faculty presence at the research site. The study notes that student engagement is one of the significant factors that affect faculty motivation as they experience faculty presence in the online learning environment. In Muilenburg and Berge (2001) study the faculty identified PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 96 administrative support, organizational changes, and difficulties with social interaction as most pressing issues relating to the challenges of online teaching. (Alavi & Gallupe, 2003). Faculty development and faculty presence. Faculty development enhances the experience of faculty presence in the online learning environment. The findings support the importance of the use of faculty development methods as an effective way of supporting and fostering faculty presence in the online learning environment. The study noted the importance of the use of faculty development and mentorship programs as effective tools for creating a sense of faculty presence. The lack of support of online pedagogy has triggered an intimidating online education environment for novice faculty (Billings & Kowalski, 2008). Faculty development is best facilitated through experienced faculty members. Online educators must advocate for faculty development as a part of an essential professional journey. Utilization of technology and faculty presence. The findings revealed that utilization and support of technology enhance the level of comfort of teaching online. The substantial growth of Computer-Mediated Communication (CMC) in the online learning environment commands the importance of understanding the social context of the academic setting. Online learning is mediated through technology, which changes the character of interactions between faculty and students and how both perceive interactions. In Hiltz’ et al., (2007) study the instructors noted the need of support from administration for the amount of time and energy it takes to design and facilitate online courses. Many feel that they are not being rewarded and sometimes devalued by the institution and many of their colleagues. As Smith (2009) noted in the literature research, the differences between online courses and face-to-face courses must be considered. The implementation of online instructional design and technology has created numerous challenges for online line faculty. In Smith, et al., PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 97 (2009) multi-site descriptive study the researcher noted that the introduction of the technology utilized in online teaching has increased the workload of many faculty members who were not expecting technology to be the significant focus of their academic career. Research Question 3 Is there a relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic factors among the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in California? This research question explores the possible relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and the demographic factors among the faculty in the school of nursing at a public university in California. The research identifies a relationship between the sub category of Facilitation with Faculty Presence and the level of online experience. The interview responses noted a significant difference between the faculty members with less online teaching experience. The faculty members with at least 10 years tenure at the research site expressed a lack of preparation for their role as an online faculty member. While faculty members with over 10 years tenure at this research site credited the department’s faculty development workshop as essential for their success and comfort in transitioning from face-to-face to online teaching. Fang (2007) notes the importance of two factors within the designing faculty- development interventions in an online learning environment: adoption and effectiveness of online teaching. The literature supports faculty development tools that focus on improving faculty presence in the online learning environment. The participants note many challenging aspects of fostering and the support of faculty development in the current institution studied. The process of designing and planning online courses is more time-consuming than traditional courses in the traditional brick and mortar educational environments. Designing online courses often warrants more thorough planning of the process, structure, interaction, and PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 98 evaluation of the essential elements of the course (Rourke & Anderson, 2000). Anderson, et al (2001) describes activities in this category as building curriculum. Supportively, (14) describes this design component as the creation and integration of “learning objects” such as lecture notes and personal insight. The design and administration of a combination of group and individual activities were also noted (Swan, Richardson, Ice, Garrison, Cleveland-Innes, Arbaugh, 2008). The importance of clear and consistent course structure that fosters engaged faculty and dynamic online discussions has been noted to be the most significant predictor of successful online courses (Swan, 2002; 2003; (Swan, Richardson, Ice, Garrison, Cleveland-Innes, Arbaugh, 2008). Also noted in the literature is the importance of students knowing the “grand design” of the course structure and knowing that participating in learning activities will result in the attainment of their knowledge goals (Garrison & Richardson, 2009). Limitations This descriptive mixed method case study used convenience and purposive sampling. The limitations of this study are as follows: • The lack of generalizability because of the convenience sampling. During the study interview, the researcher was able to obtain feedback from the interviewees that helped in the refinement of the interview questions. • The lack of clarity with three questions during the interview. There were three questions that the interviewees stated that were unclear and difficult to answer due to unclear wording. • The process of typing notes when conducting the interviews. Typing the responses made the interview process impersonal and somewhat inhibited the flow of the interview. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 99 • The transcription services used to transcribe the interviews, which was a little difficult to interpret. • The principal researcher was a faculty colleague of the participants. This possibly posed a conflict of interest in responses. Most respondents requested reassurances of ambiguity prior to the interview. Once the researcher ensured anonymity the participants were comfortable answering questions that would be difficult as a fellow faculty member. • Although there are 55 faculty 14 full-time and 42 part-time All 42 part-time faculty did not teach during the study period, therefore only 32 full and part-time faculty received the survey. The sample was developed from this population. Implications for Practice This researcher believes that this study will contribute significantly to four main groups: Implications for the Nursing Profession Chapters one and two of this study, identified the issue of the national nursing and nursing shortage especially for nurses with higher degrees. The literature supports the asynchronous online education as a means to stimulate meaningful learning in higher education. The educational experience in the Community of Inquiry is an essential component of the educational experience, that fosters the facilitation of deep learning and critical thinking that supports meaningful learning. This study provides the guidelines for implementing the concept of faculty presence in online courses within higher education nursing programs. The results of the study supported implications for designing academic online learning environments that enhanced social presence. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 100 Implications for Online Nursing Education Schools of nursing are responding to the need for virtual programs by increasing online nursing programs. Administrators in university nursing programs must provide quality programs as mandated by the accrediting bodies. In chapter one, the researcher stated the belief that the results of this study would provide a foundation and framework that facilitates and enhances faculty presence in the online environment. The results of this study have major implication for nursing education and nursing practice. The results would guide practices for faculty teaching in undergraduate and graduate asynchronous online programs. According to the responses from participants in the study, faculty identified the need for additional faculty development courses to enhance their ability to improve faculty presence in the online learning environment. Implications for Administrators and Faculty The results of this study show that School of Nursing administrators can benefit from this study, by understanding the possible barriers to faculty presence from their faculty perspective. Motivation emerged as a theme during the interviews. Participants in this study noted student motivational factors as a significant influence on their own motivation and faculty presence. This information will benefit the nursing department by providing case based research evidence to structure further professional development. Faculty will benefit from discovering the possible challenges to faculty presence within their online learning environment, and through faculty development, will address the challenges. Implications for Healthcare Organizations Employing Nursing Graduates Lastly, nursing directors in healthcare organizations that employ nursing graduates, internal and external stakeholders and the community, expect well-prepared graduates to PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 101 function in the 21st century healthcare environment. In addition to being safe, the nurse must be well prepared with, critical thinking skills to function with a higher degree. It is vital that online curriculum is supported by sound instructional design that fosters critical thinking and sound decision-making. Preparation of faculty via faculty development classes/workshops in the area of Faculty Presence can provide the engagement necessary to increase students’ satisfaction scores and produce a well- rounded graduate with the skills needed to function in the 21 st century. Managers in healthcare facilities expect nursing graduates to function successfully in the nursing profession. Recommendations for Future Research Faculty presence is one of the essential components of the effectiveness of online learning. The research has identified many areas of the challenges faculty face in the research site. Also identified are the demographic variables that influence facilitation of faculty presence in the online environment. This researcher recommends the following areas of future research to further explore the perception and challenges of faculty presence in the online learning environment. The research focused on identifying if there is a difference between groups of faculty members such as tenured faculty and adjunct faculty members at the research site. Looking at the study participants demographics there were ten adjunct and lecturer faculty members, and eight faculty either tenured or on a tenure track. There may be a difference in the importance of faculty presence between faculty members with the security of a tenure status compared to those faculty members who rely on student evaluations to support promotions and assignment. Another recommendation would be to follow-up with administrative staff to identify the barriers they have towards implementing faculty development measures within the research site. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 102 Faculty development was one of the themes that emerged from this study. The phenomenon of faculty presence and faculty development must work together and become the norm for any online class. The online academic environment would benefit by research exploring the possible barriers of supporting faculty presence performance improvement initiatives from the administrative perspective. The literature notes difficulty with administrative support, therefore, there would significant benefits to understanding the possible barriers to implementing faculty support measures. Additional research is needed to investigate the best ways to help faculty members overcome their barriers to faculty presence in the online learning environment. Exploring the ways to help implement effective ways of developing faculty development curriculum related to improving and supporting faculty presence in the online learning environment is needed. Developing best practices regarding faculty development best practices can assist with training novice faculty in the new online environment. Research is needed to understand the influences and perceptions of faculty presence in the online synchronous learning environment. Concepts that emerged from literature review are the synchronous learning environment and how faculty presence differs in the synchronous learning environment. There have been studies done exploring faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment, but limited studies have been done on the synchronous online environment and its effect on student learning outcomes. Conclusion The purpose of this mixed-method descriptive case study was to explore the relationship between specific demographic variables and the faculty perceptions of the importance of faculty presence in a school of nursing at a public university in Southern California. This research PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 103 explored the relationship that exists between the perceived challenges and various demographic factors of the faculty at the chosen research site. This research explores the problem of low online student satisfaction scores as it relates to faculty presence as a measure of professional service quality within the School of Nursing. Faculty presence is important for the creation and promotion of cognitive exchange within the online academic environment (Richardson & Swan, 2003). The literature also supports a direct relationship between social presence in the form of faculty presence, interaction, and engagement as predictors of perceived learning. The methods of the study explored some of the factors that possibly influence faculty presence in the online learning environment. The findings from this study suggest several areas for improvement in online learning. Implications for four nursing groups were presented. Recommendations for further follow-up studies were made. This researcher has gained a wealth of knowledge regarding the process and construction of interviews that will help explore the challenges of faculty presence in the online learning environment. This research is significant because, the School of Nursing considers student satisfaction a priority, as it influences their ability to prepare learners to be competent providers of nursing care and leaders in the nursing profession. The study findings could directly influence the degree of faculty presence in the online environment in schools of nursing. Results of this case study will identify perceived barriers and can provide a foundation and framework that facilitates, measures and enhances faculty presence. Students expect faculty to function effectively in online classes to increase learning outcomes. Given the emerging impact of online education and its structural paradigm, it is important to consider the effect of faculty presence on the quality of the online learning PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 104 experience. This study could guide teaching for online faculty and create best online teaching practices. 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(2005) Distance education. A systems view (2 nd ed.). Belmont, CA; Wadsworth. Muilenburg, L., & Berge, Z. L. (2001). Barriers to distance education: A factor ‐ analytic study.American Journal of Distance Education, 15(2), 7-22. Nardi, D. A. & Gyurko, C. C. (2013). The global nursing faculty shortage: Strategy and solutions for change. Journal of Nursing Scholarship, 45(3), 317-326. National Center of Educational Statistics (2015). https://nces.ed.gov/ PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 113 Nelson, S. J., & Thompson, G. W. (2005). Barriers perceived by administrators and faculty regarding the use of distance education technologies in preservice programs for secondary agricultural education teachers. Journal of Agricultural Education, 46(4), 36. Offir, B., Lev, Y., & Bezalel, R. (2008). Surface and deep learning processes in distance education: Synchronous versus asynchronous systems.Computers & Education, 51(3), 1172-1183. O’Reilly, K. (2011). 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Learning presence: Towards a theory of self-efficacy, self- regulation, and the development of a communities of inquiry in online and blended learning environments. Computers & Education, 55(4), 1721-1731. Short, J., Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons. Skylar, A. A. (2009). A comparison of asynchronous online text-based lectures and synchronous interactive web conferencing lectures. Issues in Teacher education, 18(2), 69. Smith, G. G., Passmore, D., & Faught, T. (2009). The challenges of online nursing education. The Internet and Higher Education, 12(2), 98-103. Stanford-Bowers, D. E. (2008). Persistence in online classes: A study of perceptions among community college stakeholders. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, 4(1), 37-50. Stephens, M., & Hennefer, D. (2013). Internationalizing the nursing curriculum using a community of inquiry framework and blended learning. Nurse Education in Practice, 13(3), 170-5. Somenarain, L., Akkaraju, S., & Gharbaran, R. (2010). Student perceptions and learning outcomes in asynchronous and synchronous online learning environments in a biology course. Journal of Online Learning and Teaching,6(2), 353. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 115 Swan, K. (2002). Building learning communities in online courses: The importance of interaction. Education, Communication & Information, 2(1), 23-49. Swan, K., Garrison, D. R., & Richardson, J. (2009). A constructivist approach to online learning: the Community of Inquiry framework. Information technology and constructivism in higher education: Progressive learning frameworks. Hershey, PA: IGI Global. Taylor, P., Parker, K., Lenhart, A. Patten, E. (2011).The Digital Revolution and Higher Education: College Presidents, Public Differ on Value of Online Learning. Washington, DC: Pew Research Center Tu, C.-H., & McIsaac, M. (2002). The relationship of social presence and interaction in online classes. The American Journal of Distance Education 16(3), 131-150. Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard university press. Williams, J. B., & Goldberg, M. (2005). The evolution of e-learning. Proceedings of Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia. Yen, C. J. & Abdous, M. (2011). A study of the predictive relationships between faculty engagement, learner satisfaction and outcomes in multiple learning delivery modes. International Journal of Distance Education Technologies (IJDET), 9(4), 57-7 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 116 Appendix A Permission to Use Community of Inquiry Framework Diagram 6/10/2016 University of Southern California Mail - Permission to use copyrighted material https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=4bc17e461e&view=pt&q=garrison%40ucalgary.ca&qs=true&search=query&th=1541345c95d428b4&siml=1541345c95d … 1/3 Cheryl Keel <ckeel@usc.edu> Permission to use copyrighted material 6 messages Cheryl Keel <ckeel@usc.edu> Wed, Apr 13, 2016 at 10:37 PM To: garrison@ucalgary.ca Dear Mr. Garrison: I am a doctoral student at the University of Southern California. I am in the process of preparing my dissertation for publication and am seeking permission to include the Community of Inquiry framework on p. 6 in Garrison, D. R., Anderson, T., & Archer, W. (2010). The first decade of the community of inquiry framework: A retrospective. The Internet and Higher Education, 13(1), 5-9. The work will be used in the following manner: The image of the Community of Inquiry framework will be used as an illustration of the framework in my dissertation. Please let me know if there is a fee for using this work in this manner. Please indicate your approval of this request by signing the letter where indicated below and returning it to me via email. Your signing of this letter will also confirm that you own the copyright to the above- described material. Very truly yours, Cheryl Ann Keel, doctoral student University of Southern California Rossier School of Education ckeel@usc.edu Attached: Permission to use copyrighted material request letter D. Randy Garrison <garrison@ucalgary.ca> Thu, Apr 14, 2016 at 7:10 AM To: Cheryl Keel <ckeel@usc.edu> Cheryl, You have my permission to use the CoI framework diagram. DRG D. Randy Garrison Professor Emeritus University of Calgary PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 117 Appendix B Permission to Modify the Teaching Presence Scale by Garrison 6/10/2016 University of Southern California Mail - Permission to use copyrighted material https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?ui=2&ik=4bc17e461e&view=pt&q=garrison%40ucalgary.ca&qs=true&search=query&th=1541345c95d428b4&siml=1541345c95d … 3/3 To: Cheryl Keel <ckeel@usc.edu> Cheryl, You have my permission to use and modify the TP scale. Best wishes, DRG D. Randy Garrison Professor Emeritus University of Calgary garrison@ucalgary.ca https://coi.athabascau.ca/ From: Cheryl Keel [mailto:ckeel@usc.edu] Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2016 2:24 PM To: D. Randy Garrison Subject: Re: Permission to use copyrighted material [Quoted text hidden] Cheryl Keel <ckeel@usc.edu> Fri, Apr 22, 2016 at 9:14 AM To: "D. Randy Garrison" <garrison@ucalgary.ca> Thank you Mr. Garrison. Cheryl Ann Keel, doctoral student University of Southern California Rossier School of Education [Quoted text hidden] PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 118 Appendix C Permission to Use Modified Teaching Presence Scale by Kuhns PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 119 Appendix D Research Study Matrix Research Study Matrix Question Research Question Theoretical Framework Methodology/Data Analysis Instrument/Question(s) 1 What faculty demographic factors influence the asynchronous online faculty perceptions of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence? Community of Inquiry Mixed Methods Design Sequential Design (Quantitative) Descriptive Analysis Aggregate data: Mean, Minimum and Maximum values Disaggregate data: -gender (Q1) -age(Q2) -academic status (Q3) -academic teaching position (Q4) -academic rank (Q5) -years of teaching experience (Q6) -professional development workshops (Q7) -years of online teaching experience (Q8) Ordinal Regression: Survey Instrument: Modified Teaching Presence Scale (TPS) (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013) *[TPS] Questions: 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 *[TPS] Questions: Design and Organization 10,11,12,13 Facilitating Discourse 14,15,16,17,18,19 Direct Instruction 20,21,22 PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 120 Demographic Questions - T-test ANOVA *[TPS] Questions: 1,2,3 *[TPS] Questions: 4,5,6,7,8 2 What are the possible challenges to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? Community of Inquiry- Teaching Presence (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999) Constant Comparison Method -A priori codes -Open coding -Axial coding -Selective coding Semi-structured Interviews: Design and Organization 6,7,8,9 Facilitating Discourse 10,11,12 Direct Instruction 13,14 3 Is there a relationship between the perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic factors among the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in California? Community of Inquiry- Teaching Presence (Garrison, Anderson & Archer, 1999) Constant Comparison Method *[TPS] and Semi- structured Interviews PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 121 Appendix E Informed Consent and Interview Protocol Participant ID:_________________________ Date: ___________________ Part A. Informed Consent Part A. Informed Consent You have also been previously invited to answer a survey sent to you a month ago for my doctoral dissertation at the University of Southern California. You were selected to participate in the interview phase of this study because of your online teaching and learning experience on this campus. My research project as a whole focuses on faculty presence in the asynchronous online environment, with particular interest in understanding the perceived barriers to faculty presence at the school of nursing at XXXX. My study does not aim to evaluate your techniques or experiences. Rather, I am trying to learn more about your perception of, and possible barriers to faculty presence in your asynchronous online environment. The purpose of this study will be determine if a relationship exists between the perception of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Further, this study will seek to determine if a relationship exists between perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic variables. The interview questions below will explore the following research questions: 1. How do the nursing faculty in a school of nursing at a public state university in southern California perceive their faculty presence in asynchronous online courses? 2. What are the barriers to faculty presence within the asynchronous online learning environment in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California? To facilitate my note-taking, I would like to audio record our conversations today. Please sign the release form for this interview and submit to me via face-to-face, or email. For your information, only the researcher on the project will be privy to the audio recordings, which will be eventually destroyed after they are transcribed. In addition, you must sign this form devised to meet our human subject requirements. Essentially, this document states that: (1) all information will be held confidential, (2) your participation is voluntary and you may stop at any time if you feel uncomfortable, and (3) I do not intend to inflict any harm. I have planned this interview to last no longer than one hour. During this time, I have several questions that I would like to ask. If time begins to run short, it may be necessary to interrupt you in order to push ahead and complete this line of questioning. This consent form establishes that you have read and understood what participating in this research study will involve. Please initial each item below that apply: 1. I confirm that I have read and understand the information sheet for the above study and have had the opportunity to ask questions. Initials________ PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 122 2. I understand that taking part in voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time, without giving any reason. Initials________ 3. I understand that any information that I give will only be used anonymously and I will not be identified when my views are presented to other participants or in any publications and reports. Initials________ 4. I agree to take part in this study. Initials________ Name: ____________________________________ Date: __________________ Signature________________________________________________ Thank you for your agreeing to participate. Part B. Introduction Spoken Instructions: This interview is a follow up to the faculty presence survey you participated in at the beginning of the month. Thank you for consenting to participate in the survey and a follow up interview. You were selected to participate in the interview phase of this study because of your online teaching experience. I am conducting a qualitative case study that explores the perception of faculty presence and the perceived barriers of faculty presence in the online environment at the School of Nursing at XXXX. There is a considerable amount of literature exploring the student’s perception of teaching/faculty presence. I am primarily interested in the perception of faculty presence from the faculty perspective. Your views and experience are extremely valuable to me, therefore, I would like you to share as much information as you can for each question. I have scheduled an hour for the interview, however you may take as much time as you need to answer each question. Do you have any questions before we begin? Part C. Background Information 1. Tell me a little about yourself? a. How long have you taught online courses? b. How long have you worked at XXXX? c. Which courses have you taught at XXXX? 2. When and why did you start to teach online courses? a. What was the course? b. What motivated you to teach online? c. How did your journey to teach online begin? Part D. Perceived Barriers to Faculty Presence 3. What concerns, if any do you have about teaching online courses? 4. What would you say are the advantages and/or disadvantages for teaching online courses? 5. What beliefs and attitudes did you have towards online teaching prior to teaching online and how did they change? PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 123 6. Did your department provide you with any formal training opportunities or assistance in developing your online courses? If so describe the training and assistance? a. What were the training courses? Where they helpful? 7. Did you take advantage of any informal opportunities to assist you in the development of your online courses? If so what were they and how did it assist you in developing your online courses? 8. Can you walk me through the process of how you develop your online courses at the School of Nursing at your institution? 9. What factors do you take into consideration when designing the course(s)? (Student, content, goals/education purpose, knowledge, skills, attitudes of the learner, other people). 10. While teaching your online courses(s) did you encounter any barriers or challenges? 11. Describe for me your overall experience teaching online course(s)? 12. Reflect on your earliest experience teaching online courses, is there anything you would do differently at this point in your career teaching online? 13. Are there any recommendations you would offer to the school administration to help faculty who wish to develop and teach online courses? What would it be? 14. Do you have anything else you would like to share about your experience developing and teaching online courses at the School of Nursing at your institution? To protect the privacy of respondents, all interview data, including interview recordings and the principal investigator Cheryl Keel will review transcriptions. The respondents’ names, neither unique identifiers, will be collected nor recorded. The researcher and statistician will be responsible for analyzing the data. A qualitative design approach consisting of in-depth interviews and document review methods will be utilized to explore the perception of faculty presence and the perceived barriers of faculty presence in the online environment at the School of Nursing at XXXX. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 124 Appendix F Institutional Review Board University of Southern California PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 125 Appendix G Survey Informed Consent Exploring the Perceived Barriers of Nursing Faculty Presence in An Asynchronous Online Learning Environment Informed Consent: Participants 18 Years of Age and Older Part 1 Informed Consent: Dear Participant, Your participation is voluntary and will involve the completion of a 22-question survey. The Teaching Presence Survey (TPS) survey is a web link survey administered through Survey Monkey TM . The survey should take less than 20 minutes to complete and requires you to answer demographic questions and educational preparation questions. All information will be kept confidential. You may decline to participate in this study at anytime during the survey by closing the survey without submitting. Once you start, you can withdraw from the study at any time without penalty. If you decide to withdraw from this study after survey submission, you may contact me via telephone or email. In this research, there are no foreseeable risks to you. Although there may be no direct benefit to you, a possible benefit of participation is an increase in knowledge of perceived teaching presence in the online learning environment. The results of this study may be published but your identity will remain confidential. If you have any questions about this study, please call me at 310.650.9908 or email me at ckeel@usc.edu. For questions about your rights as a study participant, or any concerns or complaints, please contact the University of Southern California Institutional Review Board via email ____________________. As a participant in this study, you should understand the following: 1. You are nursing faculty that has taught at least one fully online nursing course. 2. Your identity will be kept confidential. 3. Cheryl Keel, the researcher, has fully explained that nature of the research study and has answered all of your questions. 4. You may withdraw from the study at any time prior to, during, or after submission of your survey. 5. Data will be kept in a secure and locked area. The data will be kept for two years, and then destroyed. PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 126 1. “By selecting that you agree to participate in the study you understand the nature of the study, the possible risks to you as a participant, and how you identify will be kept confidential. When you select to participate, this means that you are 18 years old or older and that you give your permission to volunteer as a participant in the study that is described here” I agree to participate in the study. I do not agree to participate in the study. Part 2 Demographics: Each question below asks questions related to your demographic and education background. Please select the most accurate choice from those provided. 2. What is your gender? Female Male 3. Which category below includes your age? 31-40 41-50 51-60 61+ 4. Which race/ethnicity best describes you? (Choose only one) African American Caucasian Hispanic American Indian/Alaskan Native Asian/Pacific Islander Other (please specify) 5. What is the highest level of education you have completed? Masters Degree Doctorate Degree Other (please specify) 6. What is your current academic rank? Adjunct Faculty Lecturer Assistant Professor Associate Professor Professor Other (please specify) PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 127 7. How many years have you taught online? (Please include other facilities other than CSUDH) 1 to 5 years 6 to 10 years 11 to 20 years 21+ 8. On average, how many 100% online courses have you taught per semester? 1 course 2 courses 3 courses 4 courses 4+ courses 9. How long have you utilized the Blackboard Learning Management System at CSUDH? 1 to 5 years 6 to 10 years 11 to 19 years Instructions Part 3 Modified Teaching Presence Scale: Modified Teaching Presence Scale- There are 13 questions regarding your perception of online teaching presence. Please use the scale provided for your responses. 10. I clearly communicate important course information required to assist my students’ learning. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 11. I clearly communicate important course goals. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 12. I provide clear instructions on how to participate in course learning activities. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 13. I communicate important due dates/time frames for learning activities. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 14. I help course participants identify areas of agreement and disagreement on course topics that help them learn. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree PERCEIVED BARRIERS OF NURSING FACULTY PRESENCE 128 15. I help to keep course participants engaged in productive dialogue. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 16. I keep the course participants on task in a way that helped me to learn. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 17. I encourage course participants to explore new concepts in courses. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 18. I reinforce the development of a sense of community among course participants. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 19. I help course participants explore new concepts in my courses. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 20. I help to focus discussion on relevant issues in a way that help course participants learn. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 21. I provide feedback that helps course participants understand their strengths and weaknesses. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree 22. I provide feedback in a timely fashion. 1 = strongly disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = neutral, 4 = agree, 5 = strongly agree Thank you very much for completing this survey! I truly value and appreciate your time and effort. If you would like to speak to me about your participation or withdraw from this study please contact me at ckeel@usc.edu or 310.650.9908 For additional resources - http://dissertationedd.usc.edu/ DSC contact information – rsoedsc@rossier.usc.edu or (213)740-8099

Abstract (if available)

Abstract This mixed-study descriptive case study applied the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, to determine the influential relationship between the perception of the importance of faculty role in facilitating faculty presence in online nursing programs, and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between the perception of the importance of their role in facilitating faculty presence and various demographic factors of the faculty in a school of nursing at a public university in southern California. Further, this study sought to determine if a relationship existed between perceived challenges of faculty presence and various demographic variables. The Teaching Presence Scale was administered to samples of part-time and full-time faculty for quantitative data. A follow-up interview was done with a representative sample of faculty. For the quantitative portion of the study, the analysis included independent samples t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The inferential analysis revealed a significant difference among one variable associated with the years of academic teaching experience and facilitating faculty presence on the Facilitating Discourse scale (Kratzer-Kuhns, 2013). Therefore, the research demonstrates the differences associated with the relationship between the years of experience and the perception of the importance of facilitating faculty presence. Additionally, four major themes emerged from the qualitative data. Findings from this study indicated that not all faculty experience the sense of faculty presence in the same way, while the effort students make in class significantly influences faculty presence and motivation in the online learning environment and finally, faculty development enhances the experience of faculty presence in the online learning environment. The study began to bridge a gap between the importance of faculty presence and the online environment.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Keel, Cheryl Ann (author)

Core Title The perceived barriers of nursing faculty presence in an asynchronous online learning environment: a case study

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Education (Leadership)

Publication Date 09/21/2017

Defense Date 08/16/2017

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag community of inquiry,faculty presence,Higher education,nursing,nursing faculty presence,OAI-PMH Harvest,social presence,Teaching Presence Scale

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Crispen, Patrick (committee chair), Tobey, Patricia (committee chair), Stowe, Kathy (committee member)

Creator Email cherylkeel@gmail.com,ckeel@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c40-430457

Unique identifier UC11264311

Identifier etd-KeelCheryl-5742.pdf (filename),usctheses-c40-430457 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-KeelCheryl-5742.pdf

Dmrecord 430457

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Keel, Cheryl Ann

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA