An evaluation of faculty development training programs for instructing via interactive television in Tennessee universities and colleges

The purpose of this study was to ascertain if Tennessee universities and colleges provide training for faculty member instructing via interactive television/compressed video. A secondary purpose was to determine the perceived effectiveness of that training by the participating faculty members. Based on the shift in enrollment demographics, leading colleges and universities are exploring creative ways to increase enrollments and meet the unique needs of students. A survey in the fall of 1995 from two-year and four-year higher education institutions (U.S. Department of Education, 1998) found that one third of these institutions offered distance education courses in the fall of 1995 and another quarter planned to offer distance education courses in the next three years. At the time of the research, 57 percent of higher education institutions delivered their distance education courses by interactive television/compressed video. These institutions are faced with educational consumers who now have more choices in regard to what, when, how and from whom they will pursue an education. The quality of the instruction is one criterion students will use in selecting an institution offering courses at a distance. To decide if the course will be of value, students will evaluate whether the instructor simply transfers the course work, without modification, from a traditional classroom to the technology-based classroom. This study examined the demographics of faculty members (gender, age and years of teaching) who instruct via interactive television/compressed video in order to develop a profile of those instructors. A survey was sent to 141 faculty members, with a response rate of 49%. The data provided demographics of the distance education faculty members in Tennessee universities and colleges. An analysis of selected demographic data with specific questions on the survey (designed in a Likert scale format) that focused on the degree of perceived effectiveness of the training was completed using descriptive statistics, content analysis, Unpaired T-Tests and One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). The findings indicated that training is being conducted in Tennessee universities and colleges. In addition, faculty members attending training were generally satisfied with the training they received. However, the faculty members did make suggestions for improving the training to enhance their skills for instructing via interactive television/compressed video. Suggestions included how much time to devote to training, what the training should include, who should conduct the training, what instructional methods should be used in the training and how close the training should occur to the first instructional experience. The ANOVA, at a significance level of .05, suggested that faculty members felt training in the area of technical knowledge is more beneficial the closer it occurs to the first instructional experience. Also, respondents indicated the skill of curriculum design and preparation for a distance education course should require more training time to be most beneficial to the instructor. To complete the study, the data and suggestions by the faculty members used to design a training program for those who instruct via interactive television/compressed video