The purpose of this research is to understand faculty perceptions about innovation in teaching and technology in a college of education in a research‐intensive university. This study was motivated by the creation of a new initiative begun in a large college of education at a Carnegie Research‐Intensive university to promote innovation in teaching with the support and creative use of technology. This study used Q methodology, a mixed methods research design involving quantitative and qualitative analysis of descriptive data derived by a sorting activity. Results showed four emerging profiles about how faculty perceive innovation in teaching and technology. Faculty comprising three of these profiles shared the characteristic of valuing technology's role in teaching, though in different, nuanced ways. Faculty representing the fourth profile, in contrast, were generally cautious and skeptical of using technology for teaching. Implications of the study are discussed, including the caution not to assume that college faculty share meaning for words like “innovation in teaching and technology.” Also, the results of this study are useful to understanding theories of innovation based on faculty's perceptions of their ability to adapt to rapidly changing and ever‐increasing technology innovations for teaching.
Reflective Structured Dialogue (RSD) is a specific type of dialogue intervention designed to help individuals on opposing sides of controversial political and social issues share their perspectives, and communicate in a manner that allows them to better understand one another. The current study examined outcomes from case studies on RSD using qualitative thematic analysis. Eight articles were analyzed, using an inductive grounded theory approach. The major themes that emerged were embracing multiple perspectives, positions of power, stronger/more positive connections, better communication, personal growth/self‐reflection, and challenges/limitations. Implications, recommendations, and suggestions for future research are discussed.
This study explored the relationship between existing community resources and community leaders’ perceptions of resilience and rural health during COVID-19. Observational data of material capitals (e.g., grocery stores and physical activity resources) present in five rural communities involved in a health promotion project were collected and compared with key informant interviews of perceived community health and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis compares the differences in community leaders’ perceptions of resilience during the pandemic to the actual material capitals of the community. While these rural counties were average in terms of available physical activity and nutritional resources, the onset of the pandemic led to varying degrees of disruption in access due to structural closures of mainstay resources, as well as residents perceiving that they cannot or should not access available resources. In addition, county coalition progress was stalled as individuals and groups could not gather together to complete projects, such as building playground equipment. This study demonstrates that existing quantitative instruments, such as NEMS and PARA, fail to take into account perceived access and utility of resources. Therefore, practitioners should consider multiple ways to evaluate resources, capacity, and progress on a health intervention or program and consider community voice to ensure feasibility, relevance, and sustainability—especially when faced with a public health emergency like COVID-19.
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