Dear Online Faculty Members:

Would you be interested in learning about an instructional strategy that may help you to take the "distance" out of the process of "distance learning?"

My name is Bruce Johnson. I'm conducting a research study as a part of my doctoral dissertation called Transformation of Online Teaching Practices Utilizing Appreciative Inquiry to Enhance the Process of Learning.

You are invited to participate in this study because you are facilitating an online course. The possible benefits of your participation in the research include a new awareness of the effectiveness of your instructional strategies as a means of enhancing your working relationships with students. In addition, this study will explore the ability of these instructional strategies to have a positive impact on the students' performance, motivation, and engagement in the class

The specific instructional strategy developed for this study is called appreciative andragogy. Appreciative andragogy is an original phrase developed for use with this study and it is an adaptation of appreciative inquiry as an instructional strategy for online classroom instructors. It is not yet known if an appreciative inquiry approach has a positive effect in an online post-secondary classroom environment.

Appreciative inquiry is an organizational development tool that has been successfully used to affect change and influence employee performance. The use of appreciative inquiry, as appreciative andragogy, will be examined as a means of taking the "distance" out of "distance learning" by providing a means of influencing the online student's performance, engagement, and motivation.

All of the information provided for this study will remain confidential; your name or identity will not be revealed. There are no risks anticipated for your participation in this study and participation in this study is strictly voluntary.

If you decide to participate in this study, you will be asked to participate in telephone interviews, complete worksheets and journal entries; while working with the concept of appreciative andragogy. The research study is designed for an eight week period, in order to test the application of appreciative andragogy within an online classroom environment. Your participation will take approximately 30 to 60 minutes each week of the study.

Please feel free to contact me for additional information. My contact information is provided below.

Thank you for your time and consideration.
Bruce

Note: This request for participants was reviewed by the MERLOT Technical Development Manager.

Bruce A. Johnson
BAJMBA@yahoo.com or PROFBRUCE@att.net
636-795-4137