Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2004

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Type

EdD

College

College of Education and Human Services

Department

Curriculum & Instruction/Literacy Studies

Committee Chair

Richard Hartnett.

Abstract

Institutions of higher education are under increasing pressure to manage with less financial support from the state legislatures. In order to reduce costs and provide greater flexibility, many colleges and universities are turning to adjunct faculty for a greater portion of their teaching in the classroom. However, few studies have measured the quality of instruction displayed by adjunct faculty.;The objective of this study is to assess the frequency of practice for several aspects related to teaching quality between full-time and part-time faculty. Three community colleges participated in the faculty survey: Seven Principles For Good Practice In Undergraduate Education.;In addition, the survey included a profile of the faculty and an overview of assistance provided by the colleges for their faculty members. From this portion of the research instrument, a secondary objective relative to support services, training sessions, and policies needed for better utilization of all faculty could be determined.;The study included statistical analyses of means for the frequencies of practice between the two categories of faculty. The study also examined the means to ascertain differences in practices by sex of faculty and by experience level of the faculty and also by department or academic area. Overall results showed that full-time faculty consistently showed greater utilization for all seven of the "good practices". Females showed greater usage of the good practices in all seven categories, while more experienced faculty showed more frequency of use for some, but not all, of the good practices. Two departments, education and allied health, showed greater utilization of the seven practices with allied health faculty showing best usage in four practices and the education department showing best usage in three of the practices. Overall, mathematics and science faculty showed the lowest frequency of use for the seven good practices. Social sciences, humanities, business, and technology departments were in the middle range for use of the good practices.;The secondary objective does not show results with statistical significance. This portion of the study elucidated some concerns and problems which are common for adjunct faculty members and suggested some procedures which college administrators could employ to assist all faculty and improve performance in the classroom. The two most mentioned concerns for all faculty involve the academic level or skill level of students and the heavy commitment of time required for teaching in community colleges.

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