Faculty burnout is a pressing issue that threatens student outcomes and institutional effectiveness across the nation. In fact, according to some estimates, a majority of faculty members at institutions of higher education are experiencing burnout. Institutions of higher education have attempted to address this problem in various ways. Various measures, including decreased class sizes and increased access to mental healthcare, have been implemented to mitigate the effects of faculty burnout.
The use of Academic Coaches in the Instructional Connections model is an innovative and practical approach to addressing faculty burnout and enhancing student outcomes in distance learning. Increasingly, institutions of higher education are adopting this model to support their overworked and under-resourced faculty members.
However, the opinions of faculty members regarding the use of Academic Coaches have been an understudied element of faculty burnout and support to date. Instructional Connections shares the results of University of Southern Mississippi research, published in the TxDLA Journal of Digital Learning in November 2024.
Instructional Connections
Instructional Connections Academic Coaches are trained subject-matter experts who partner with participating institutions to support online course instructors. Duties will vary from course to course and institution to institution, but Academic Coaches typically assist their online course instructor with everything from grading to routine administrative tasks.
This model has proven effective in aiding faculty members; however, to date, little research has been conducted on faculty members’ perceptions of the model. Instructional Connections and the University of Southern Mississippi collaborated to determine how faculty members perceived the model and its impact on their ability to lead their courses.
Literature Review
Time and again, existing literature highlights the critical importance of online education to students. This is corroborated by a rise in institutions of higher education offering online education courses, along with a corresponding increase in the number of students enrolled in at least one of these courses. While online education is critical and increasingly popular amongst students, support can be lacking at times.
Several quantitative reviews of student outcomes in online education versus in-person enrollment reveal a significant discrepancy between the two. Online education students are substantially more likely to drop out or fail when compared to their peers who opt for traditional classrooms.
One compelling theory for the discrepancy is the lack of support that online students often receive compared to their traditional peers. As online enrollment grows, many faculty members often struggle to support the number of students in their online programs. Existing research suggests that the addition of an Academic Coach can decrease student failure rates by up to 50%, highlighting the crucial impact of the amount of support available on online student outcomes.
Methodology
The goal of this research was to analyze faculty members’ perceptions of Academic Coaches and determine their opinions on the efficacy of the model. Researchers attempted to contact 250 instructors’ emails from 52 Instructional Connection partner institutions. These emails were chosen at random and then sent a quantitative survey, with the goal of achieving 125 responses. All respondents were from partner institutions, had utilized an Academic Coach for at least one semester, and were online course instructors at their respective institutions. All consented to the survey via Qualtrics.
Results
One hundred sixty-nine respondents elected to fill out the survey, far exceeding the targeted goal of 125. Several surveys, however, were incomplete and were excluded from the findings as a result. One hundred forty-one surveys were completed and included in the survey’s findings, for a total response rate of 56%.
The survey yielded several interesting insights into how faculty members perceive their Academic Coaches. For instance, faculty members were asked to rank their Academic Coach‘s ability to grade in the instructor’s preferred grading style on a scale of 1-4, with 4 being a strong ability to grade and 1 being a low ability. Eighty percent of respondents gave their Academic Coach a rating of 3 or 4, indicating a strong or moderate ability to mimic their instructor’s grading style.
Furthermore, 94% of respondents believed that their Academic Coach communicated effectively, and two-thirds reported no challenges with the model. Short-form answers were collected to explore the specifics of said challenges for the remaining third, and the vast majority of these problems were reported to have been mitigated after closer collaboration between faculty and the Academic Coach, usually within the first few days or weeks of a new course.
Even more noteworthy is the high number of instructors who reported that their Academic Coach helped manage bandwidth. Ninety-nine percent of respondents found that their Academic Coach helped manage their workload and gave them time back.
Discussion & Recommendations For Future Research
Most participants expressed satisfaction with the Academic Coach model. The presence of Academic Coaches was linked with a rise in student engagement, which corroborates findings from past research in this area. The subject matter expertise and ability to identify at-risk students were two salient benefits that Academic Coaches brought to their partner institutions.
While the research revealed several benefits from the use of Academic Coaches, further investigation is still necessary. Future research topics include a deeper dive into the impact of Academic Coaches on student grades and satisfaction. Additional insight into levels of satisfaction, depending on department, course level, and field of study, would also provide a better understanding of delineation by several factors.
If you’re interested in learning about the Academic Coach model or have questions about this research, contact Instructional Connections today!
