An Innovative Approach To Faculty Coaching

Abstract

As online education has grown rapidly, colleges and universities have developed various approaches to effectively evaluating and coaching faculty.  Faculty performance is central to student success and faculty need feedback that is consistent, constructive and illustrative.  Through the use of screen recording technology, academic department chairs can record a visual, clear walk- through of an online class while providing constructive, audio feedback to the instructor. This technology in and of itself is simple and straightforward to use, and can be archived for future reference in the event that an academic department chairs and/or administrator would need documentation regarding the performance of a faculty member.  In 2009, the School of Business and Management at an online university began using Jing/Screen cast recording to provide faculty feedback.  The response from faculty has been overwhelmingly positive.  Faculty have expressed that combining the use of visual and audio feedback results in straightforward expectations  in meeting teaching requirements and a better understanding of teaching requirements. This has proven to be an efficient and effective way of providing not only positive feedback but also constructive criticism, which has resulted in faculty taking actions to improve their teaching performance.  This tool has worked well for this online university but the application could be equally effective in managing fewer faculty members.  Faculties have been able to gain an immediate understanding of what they are proficient in and where they can improve. They have provided such feedback as, “I am in awe of the technology!  This is so very user friendly, and it is such an efficient and effective way to get your message across to me.”  The introduction and use of this technology, audio and visual feedback, has created a community of improved understanding of University requirements and classroom expectations while establishing a better relationship and more open line of communication between academic department chairs and remote adjunct faculty.