Bridging the Gap with Faculty Learning Communities: Creating Community between Onsite and Offsite Faculty

Abstract

This paper explores the learning community at an online university comprised of both onsite and offsite, fulltime faculty members. In this mixed methods study, researchers investigated the impact of various professional development opportunities. Participants were surveyed and interviewed. Results indicate strong agreement that professional development has a strong impact on sense of community and efficacy and attitudes towards roles and responsibilities; while professional development appeared to have less of an impact on student learning, persistence, and retention. Findings have been used to help inform future professional development opportunities and the possible establishment of more structured faculty learning community.