How Faculty Beliefs and Disciplinary Affiliations Affect Faculty Use of Technology and Faculty Development in Online Higher Education: A Multi Case Study

The design of virtual learning environments and the development of technology tools can enable contextualized online learning and teaching in higher education with respect to the specifics of academic disciplines. Educational developers, instructional designers, and online learning administrators are aware of this situation in practice [1]. This paper presents and discusses the results of a pilot research study on the impact of faculty beliefs and their subject matter expertise on their use of technology to teach online and their instructional development in six academic disciplines at a regional Canadian university just prior to the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020: i.e., education, engineering, environment, digital media, nursing education, and sociology. The conceptual framework of Disciplinary Technopedagogical Knowledge (DTPK) and the multiple case study methodology were used to examine this issue. Findings highlight similarities and differences among online faculty pedagogical uses of technology and instructional development based on their beliefs and academic expertise. Limitations of the study are identified. Recommendations for online faculty development and improvements for future research are provided.