Presenter: Marcia L Ashbaugh, PhDInstructional designerOnline university course mentor and advisor

The Reason for the STUDY

“a schedule, brief outline of the course content, PowerPoint slides of the lecturer’s notes, and sometimes, sample examination papers” (Naidu, 2003, p. 349) and not much more!

• Are designers competent?

leaders? (Beaudoin, Naidu,

Reeves, Sims & Koszalka)• New ways of learning

(Beaudoin, Dede)• New designs, new situations:

designers need re-tooled

Background

Why Leadership?What does leadership—competencies and characteristics—have to do…1.with quality designs?2.with globalized learning?

The Curiosity

Guiding Research Question“What instructional design leadership

competencies are identified as critical to creating quality online learning designs?”

Competency•Predictor of performance (Dooley et al., 2007)• Knowledge, skill, ability

Leadership•Competencies (Zenger & Folkman, 2009)•Attributes

Theoretical FRAMEWORK

610 AECT D&D members

Typical, purposive sampling

Instructional design qualified experts (6)

• 3 women, 3 men• 4 US, 2 Canadian Lived experiences, ID

voices

Study METHODOLOGY

In-depth interviews• semi-structured,

open-ended questions

• Probing questions

Corroborated with personal documents• Online designs• Student evaluations

INTERVIEWS•Interview protocol

PERSONAL DOCUMENTS•Quality Matters rubric®

Interviewer as Instrument

STUDENT EVALUATIONS•Engagement (NSSE, 2008)•Learner-control and satisfaction (Sims & Stork, 2007)

and Tests

Inter-rater reliability Bracketing

(Moustakas, 1994) Reflexivity,

research journals Verified by outside

research expert

Constant Comparison Analysis (Nvivo 9)

Units of meaning Themes Feedback and member-

checking

LeadershipCompetencies/Characteristics

Study RESULTS

StrategyVision

Personality (Interpersonal Skills)Productivity

Emotional/Psychological StrengthValuesDuties

Attributes

Competencies

Duties

Leadership in the PROCESSParticipant’s Voices:“…it’s the leaders who…will be developingthe engaging, motivating, interactive, andeffective learning environments for today’s learners.”

“…it’s having…quarterbacking skill, being able to read and see things two or three tasks ahead so that you…can foresee possible issues or challenges…and…get those taken care of.”

“…it’s a mindset”“…for a leader, it really involves who you are even more than what you do”

Dominant THEMESCritical Competencies for

Leadership in Design Process

Strategy 55% of responses

Vision 29% of responses

Others 16% of responsesTotal 100% of

responses

Current theoriesBest practicesLatest technologiesCollaboration

ExperimentationFuture thinkingChallenge status quoInnovation, creativity

• PRODUCTIVITY (Chen, Wu, Yang, & Tsou, 2008)

• PERSONALITY (INTERPERSONAL SKILLS) (Howard & Wellins, 2008)

• EMOTIONAL/PSYCHOLOGICAL STRENGTH (Kirkpatrick & Locke, 1991; Scott et al., 2008)

• VALUES (Wolumbwa et al., 2008)

• DUTIES (Campbell et al., 2009) • Roles; personal benefit from leadership (Gressick &

Derry, 2010)

Other THEMES

Leadership in the DESIGN

Alignment of essentials in the design structure (Sims, 2011)

Critical components for a quality online course design

Engagement

Learner-centeredSatisfact

ion

Leadership Linked to QUALITY

Online

Course

Design

FUTURE RESEARCH

“New leaders need new ways to address these issues beyond the instructional leadership literature, which was found lacking due to a classical focus on the supervision of instructors/teachers more than with the leading of the instructional process (design and development, as we know it)”. (Kowch, 2009)

Final Analysis - COURAGE