Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this mixed-methodology research study was to determine the effects, if any, of the type of faculty professional development, voluntary or mandatory, on student success and online class interactivity in online classes for learning colleges that are members of the League for Innovation in the Community College. Methodology. This study employed a mixed-method research design, as it was a two-part explanatory-design study (Creswell, 2008). The first phase used an online class interactivity survey designed and validated by Roblyer and Wiencke. It was administered to faculty teaching fully online classes, collecting demographic information as well as interactivity scores, which were used in data analysis. The second phase used telephone interviews with faculty representing colleges with voluntary and mandatory professional development. The second phase further examined how faculty were prepared for online teaching. Finally, participating colleges provided institutional data, which included four semesters of student success rates and the content of their faculty professional development programs. Findings. The most significant quantitative result was no significant difference existed between voluntary or mandatory professional development and student success rate or online class interactivity. The qualitative data revealed that, irrespective of type of professional development, training consisted primarily of technology basics, resulting in faculty seeking their own alternate methods to improve their student success and online class interactivity. Conclusions. The type of professional development did not show significant effects on student success rate or online class interactivity. However, significant effects for online class interactivity were found for gender, part-time teaching experience, and recency of professional development. Recommendations. Future studies could include expanding the sample to include additional learning colleges, examining the content and outcomes of online professional development programs, exploring student interactivity to determine online interactivity preferences, developing student assessments to benchmark measurable components of online class interactivity, developing tools to assist less experienced part-time faculty with increasing their level of online class interactivity, and prototyping student seminars to improve persistence and success in the online classroom.