Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Fischler Graduate School of Education and Human Services
Advisor
Leslie Curda
Committee Member
Michael Simonson
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Committee Member
Maryellen Maher
Keywords
active learning, academic environments, California Community Colleges, communities of practice, computer uses in education, constructivism, distance education, distance learning, email, faculty development, full-time faculty, knowledge sharing, learning communities, professional development, qualitative case studies, surveys, technology use
Abstract
Communities of Practice (CoPs), sometimes termed learning communities, commonly exist in academic environments. What is not well known is how participation in one or more of these communities bears upon the professional development of full time faculty in the community college environment. This applied dissertation investigated and analyzed the contribution of CoPs to faculty professional development in an academic setting.
A qualitative case study was chosen as the methodology for this study. By conducting a survey of all full time faculty, identifying existing CoPs, interviewing selected faculty, and observing selected CoPs, data was gathered to support the discovery of patterns and norms within the culture and functioning of such groups. The analysis attempts to provide a description of how these formal and informal groups of practitioners share and create knowledge to contribute to the community member’s professional growth.
Findings based upon the data resulting from this research suggests that faculty members benefit most from the viewpoints of others when confronted with a professional problem. While faculty teaching in a classroom setting appear to take advantage of the learning and professional development offered by participation in CoPs, faculty teaching the distance learning program at the research site did not. The use of technologies similar to those employed in the delivery of instruction at a distance, with the exception of email, was neither reported nor observed.
Recommendations include the establishment of a coordinator to encourage the formation and function of CoPs, both at the research site and at other California Community College campuses, and further investigation into the minimal levels of involvement of the distance learning faculty in a CoP as well as into the absence of any significant level of technology in the functioning of such groups at the research site.