Teaching Practices of Instructors in Two Community Colleges in a Western State. (2007)

Over the past three decades, one of the most significant changes in the delivery of postsecondary education involves the dramatic increase in the use of part-time faculty (Jacoby, 2006). This pattern is particularly pronounced at community colleges, where part-time faculty provides virtually half of all instruction (Jacoby, 2006). Community colleges rely heavily on the first-hand knowledge and experience that adjunct instructors bring to the classroom (Lankard, 1994). Proponents of hiring adjunct faculty cite economic advantages: staff flexibility and cost saving with no fringe benefits (Bowles, 1982; Lankard, 1994). Adjunct instructors often offer up-to-date knowledge and skills in specific occupational areas, and exhibit a willingness to teach at off-campus sites and to teaching during nontraditional hours (Lankard, 1994). However, Benjamin (2002) has suggested ways that over-reliance on part-time faculty may undermine successful student learning. No only did he find part-time faculty to be relatively unavailable, but he also found that many used less challenging instructional methods. Poor institutional assimilation by part-time faculty adversely affect student learning (Benjamin, 2002). The effects have included reduced instructional quality, lack of curricular cohesion, and weak advising (Benjamin, 2003a, b; Cross and Goldenberg, 2003; Elman, 2003; Schuster, 2003; Thompson, 2003; Townsend, 2003; Jacoby, 2006). Critics also have indicated that adjunct instructors appear to have less teaching experience, limited access to computers/multimedia equipment and secretarial assistance, as well as less commitment to students, colleagues, administrators, and professional activities than their full-time counterparts (Cohen and Brawer, 1977; Lankard, 1994). Despite more limited access to certain media and lower pedagogical skills, adjunct faculty do not require less work from students and the instruction provided by adjunct faculty is not always inferior to that provided by full-time faculty (Orstein, 1988 and 1995). Benjamin (2003b) contends that part-time faculty is less qualified in ways that likely affect student learning. Faculty who have doctoral degrees have different instructional practices than those who do not, including reduced office hours, less use of modern technology, less use of nontraditional exam techniques, and lower writing expectations (Benjamin, 2003b). Part-time faculty is less likely to obtain a doctoral degree when compared to those on full-time contracts (Jacoby, 2006). The incidence of doctoral degrees is relatively high among full-time faculty in doctoral-granting (80.7%), and research-oriented (82.7%) institutions for which the doctoral degree is practically the baseline qualification (Jacoby, 2006). At community colleges, however, only 20% of the full-time faculty possesses doctoral degrees (Jacoby, 2006). The increased employment of adjunct faculty in two-year comprehensive community colleges to teach various courses led to such questions as to what extent the teaching strategies differ between part-time and full-time faculty (Bowles, 1982). This study was intended to reveal if faculty members of various statuses (full-time vs. part-time) and educational level (doctorate vs. nondoctorate) used different teaching practices to facilitate and maximize student learning. No empirical evidence is currently available to support the contention that adjunct faculty with lower educational level and limited pedagogical experience provide less effective instruction than do full-time faculty in Community Colleges X and Y in a western state. The objective of this study was to detect differences in teaching strategies with respect to faculty status and educational level. METHODS Questionnaire Development and Administration To facilitate this study, a survey instrument consisting of two sets of close-ended questions was developed and disseminated to 400 randomly selected faculty members in Community Colleges X and Y. …