Date of Award

Summer 8-1-2022

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

EdD Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Department

Education Leadership, Management and Policy

Advisor

Michael Vega, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Katie Smith, Ph.D.

Committee Member

David Reid, Ph.D.

Keywords

Faculty, FERPA, COVID-19, Pandemic, online teaching, instruction

Abstract

This qualitative case study was conducted to understand the experiences of ten faculty participants at a private, not-for-profit, 4-year degree-granting, high research institution located in the Northeast United States, who needed to change from in-person instruction to remote teaching due to COVID-19 during Spring 2020, as they prepared to protect student privacy while teaching online. In addition, this study sought to better understand how faculty were protecting and sharing student data, PII, and other personal information during that time. Data for this study was collected through semi-structured interviews. Narrative methods informed my choice of interviewing because this method provided a vehicle for me to gather stories and rich descriptions that cannot be gathered through a survey. Using such an approach, I was able to use the guided questions to see how faculty were prepared, if at all, to change from teaching in person to teaching online and if this transition may have played a role as it relates to FERPA. Using a two-stage coding method process, I analyzed the data, summarized each interview into a narrative, and depicted the experiences and challenges shared by the participants. I highlight the findings of the study and discuss how these findings support the three Research Questions, and how the findings of this study provide a greater understanding of the faculty experience during Spring 2020, revealing the importance of improving future literature. The following themes emerged from this study: (a) control, (b) preparation, (c) time, (d) best practices, (e) yearning for more, (d) survival, and (e) instinct.

Download

Share

COinS