{"id":{"repo_id":"buffalo","oai_identifier":"oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/83839"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/buffalo/oai:ubir.buffalo.edu:10477/83839","repository":{"repo_id":"buffalo","name":"Buffalo","base_url":"https://ubir.buffalo.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Exploring the Factors that Influence Faculty Connectedness to their Online Graduate Programs: Multidimensional Instrument Development and Results","abstract":"Ph.D.","abstract_html":"Ph.D.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Wiss, Andrew; 0000-0001-6711-2865"],"institution":"State University of New York at Buffalo","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Waight, Noemi","Learning and Instruction"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2022,"date_issued":"2022-06-17T19:54:38Z","date_published":"2022-06-17T19:54:38Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:28Z","subjects":["educational psychology","educational technology","organizational behavior"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10477/83839","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Waight, Noemi","Learning and Instruction"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Wiss, Andrew; 0000-0001-6711-2865"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2022-06-17T19:54:38Z","2020"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["State University of New York at Buffalo"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Text","Dissertation"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["educational psychology","educational technology","organizational behavior"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/83839"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Ph.D.","After more than two decades of close attention by both researchers and academic institutions alike, the supports required to properly guide faculty across the many facets of the distance educator role remain an ill-defined and moving target. Further, existing research on distance education focuses largely on the undergraduate and community college settings, with some question as to the generalizability of those findings to online graduate programs that focus as advanced career preparation. With these issues in mind, this research investigates: 1) the relationship between an instructor’s perceptions of their own connection to the institution for which they teach; and 2) explores the relationship between that connectedness and their learning, development and performance as online instructors. Informed by the findings of a recently published pilot study entitled Faculty Development for Online Learning Using a Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (Wiss, DeLoia, Posey, Waight & Friedman, 2018), this multi-institution (N = 4) and multi-program (N = 10) study examines the psychological factors that influence faculty perceptions (N = 187) of their own connectedness to the programs for which they teach. Through an extensive review of the literature, a multidimensional instrument was constructed to measure the dimensions of instructor connectedness and was disseminated to participants via web based questionnaire. Key findings from this research include: 1) significantly positive levels of affective commitment, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation experienced by contingent faculty, at higher levels than their full-time counterparts; 2) role ambiguity as the single most important predictor of ongoing learning and professional development as described by cognitive apprenticeship, and; 3) overall levels of instructor connectedness increased with experience teaching online over time.A discussion of these findings in context of the online graduate program model utilized by participating programs is conducted, with focus on the influence of: team teaching models, small class size, synchronous program components, and the professional identity of contingent graduate program instructors. This research enhances the existing body of literature relating to faculty development by focusing attention on the interplay of complex workplace and psychological factors that contribute to ongoing instructor development and performance in the online graduate program setting.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Exploring the Factors that Influence Faculty Connectedness to their Online Graduate Programs: Multidimensional Instrument Development and Results"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Waight, Noemi","Learning and Instruction"],"dc:creator":["Wiss, Andrew; 0000-0001-6711-2865"],"dc:date":["2022-06-17T19:54:38Z","2020"],"dc:description":["Ph.D.","After more than two decades of close attention by both researchers and academic institutions alike, the supports required to properly guide faculty across the many facets of the distance educator role remain an ill-defined and moving target. Further, existing research on distance education focuses largely on the undergraduate and community college settings, with some question as to the generalizability of those findings to online graduate programs that focus as advanced career preparation. With these issues in mind, this research investigates: 1) the relationship between an instructor’s perceptions of their own connection to the institution for which they teach; and 2) explores the relationship between that connectedness and their learning, development and performance as online instructors. Informed by the findings of a recently published pilot study entitled Faculty Development for Online Learning Using a Cognitive Apprenticeship Model (Wiss, DeLoia, Posey, Waight & Friedman, 2018), this multi-institution (N = 4) and multi-program (N = 10) study examines the psychological factors that influence faculty perceptions (N = 187) of their own connectedness to the programs for which they teach. Through an extensive review of the literature, a multidimensional instrument was constructed to measure the dimensions of instructor connectedness and was disseminated to participants via web based questionnaire. Key findings from this research include: 1) significantly positive levels of affective commitment, extrinsic and intrinsic motivation experienced by contingent faculty, at higher levels than their full-time counterparts; 2) role ambiguity as the single most important predictor of ongoing learning and professional development as described by cognitive apprenticeship, and; 3) overall levels of instructor connectedness increased with experience teaching online over time.A discussion of these findings in context of the online graduate program model utilized by participating programs is conducted, with focus on the influence of: team teaching models, small class size, synchronous program components, and the professional identity of contingent graduate program instructors. This research enhances the existing body of literature relating to faculty development by focusing attention on the interplay of complex workplace and psychological factors that contribute to ongoing instructor development and performance in the online graduate program setting.","**To request an accessible version of the file(s) associated with this item, contact library@buffalo.edu. Please include the item's persistent URL [http://hdl.handle.net/. . .] in your request.**"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/10477/83839"],"dc:language":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["State University of New York at Buffalo"],"dc:rights":["Users of works found in University at Buffalo Institutional Repository (UBIR) are responsible for identifying and contacting the copyright owner for permission to reuse. University at Buffalo Libraries do not manage rights for copyright-protected works and cannot assist with permissions.","Copyright retained by author."],"dc:subject":["educational psychology","educational technology","organizational behavior"],"dc:title":["Exploring the Factors that Influence Faculty Connectedness to their Online Graduate Programs: Multidimensional Instrument Development and Results"],"dc:type":["Text","Dissertation"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:05:28Z"}