Lauren Bullock, a 2024 graduate of the PhD in Leadership and Change at Antioch University, has written and published her dissertation titled, Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multiple Case Study Exploring Faculty Experiences in Fostering Positive Interaction with U.S.-Based Undergraduate Students.
During COVID-19, higher education in the United States changed tremendously. For her dissertation, Bullock decided to look at the changes among faculty and students, specifically from the faculty perspective.
Using a multiple-case study methodology, Bullock explored the experiences of a small cohort of faculty members at a single institution and how they fostered positive interactions with students from Spring 2019 through Spring 2023. Her findings included semi-structured interviews, course syllabi, teaching philosophies, and a pre-interview questionnaire with demographic data.
The data revealed that faculty initially faced hurdles in engaging with students but swiftly devised strategies in order to adapt. Their approaches primarily emerged from internet searches and conversations with other faculty in their communities of practice. Bullock found that faculty members who taught before the pandemic used their prior teaching experience but also credited having access to course materials designed for online learning as a strategy for positive interaction. When in-person teaching opened up, social restrictions presented significant challenges in comparison to teaching online. A key implication for practice requires faculty to teach asynchronous courses periodically to ensure familiarity with the best practices for online learning and access to updated teaching materials.
Bullock is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Advertising and Public Relations at Temple University, where she teaches leadership and public relations courses. She has expertise in leadership development and her research interests include the faculty perspective of faculty-student interaction, age diversity and its impact on the workplace, podcasting in leadership education, and the leadership styles of sports coaches and professionals. She co-hosts The Leadership Educator Podcast, which focuses on having continuing conversations with leadership educators and professionals.
Read and download Bullock’s dissertation, Teaching During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Multiple Case Study Exploring Faculty Experiences in Fostering Positive Interaction with U.S.-Based Undergraduate Students.
