Community College Faculty & Technology: Integrating Technology in Face to Face Courses

Abstract

The purpose of this quantitative descriptive study was to evaluate community college faculty use of technology modalities (face-to-face interaction, on-line interaction, e-learning, and social networking technologies) as measured by the CCFSSE 2015 cohort survey. Archival data collected by the Community College Faculty Survey of Student Engagement (CCFSSE) instruments were used for the study. These data were collected in the 2015 cohort and included three spring semesters of 2013, 2014, and 2015. The significant finding of this quantitative descriptive study revealed that faculty prefer using face-to-face interaction (lecturing) rather than applying technological methods in the classroom. Results showed that full-time faculty were more likely to be utilized Face-to-Face Interaction, Online Interaction, and Social Networking Technologies in a freshman seminar or first-year experience than that of part-time faculty who did not use technologies. Results of this quantitative descriptive study also demonstrated that full-time faculty were more likely to use all four modalities in an organized Learning Community course rather than that of part-time faculty who did not utilize such modalities. Faculty age made no difference in the use of the four modalities working directly with students in a college orientation despite the difference in their age. Female faculty who employed Online Interaction and E-Learning were more likely to teach a student success course than male faculty who did not. Native Hawaiian faculty were more than likely to employ Face-to-Face Interaction, while White faculty were more than likely to employ Online Interaction in an accelerated course compared to faculty who reported being of another race. Conversely, faculty race made no difference in their use of E-Learning and Social Networking Technologies in an accelerated course. The results presented in this quantitative descriptive study may help to contribute new information to the education literature about community college faculty integrating technology into the classroom.