Can a university teacher education program increase student satisfaction, retention, and completion if they make a shift from a traditional face-to-face graduate program to an asynchronous online program using purposeful course and program design that includes easy-to-navigate learning management system, teacher presence, and the establishment of an environment that provides a feeling of community and inclusion? Hear the details of our attempt.
As career changers look for more meaningful work, they often invest time and effort to pursue a new career in teaching. The field of education is a viable option for career changers. The percentage of midcareer entrants among first-year teachers nearly doubled between 1988 and 2008 (Marinelli & Johnson, 2014). Scholarship notes an increase in the number of second-career teachers, especially in urban settings and in high-needs content areas (Johnson & Kardos, 2008). These data signify the need to provide innovative, quality programs for adult learners transitioning to careers in teaching. Second-career teachers may require support throughout teacher preparation that differs from traditional undergraduate teacher candidates. Thus, it is important that teacher education programs provide a positive learning environment that fully supports the unique needs of career changers (Dieterich & Hamsher, 2020).
Career changers pursuing a second career in teaching often share common needs that influence their selection of a teacher preparation program. Teacher preparation programs that are most suitable for second-career teacher preparation are: flexible, transfer the adult’s expertise into the teaching profession, provide opportunities for self-directed learning and peer support, offer a significant amount of field experience and provide intensive mentoring support (Beaten and Meeus, 2016). The need for flexibility and self-directed learning suggest that the most desirable teacher education programs for career changers are delivered, at least in part, online and with some asynchronous course delivery.
The rising popularity and availability of online education, while desirable to many students, has been met with concerns about the quality of online courses and programs, specifically as it relates to student learning and retention (e.g., Bawa, 2016; Chiyaka et al., 2016; Rovai, 2002b; Tallent-Runnels et al., 2006). While meta-analyses of the effectiveness of online education courses have shown that student learning is equivalent to learning in face-to-face (FTF) courses, there is also concern for low student retention and graduation rates. Dropout rates in online courses are up to 20 percent higher than those in traditional classrooms (Carr, 2000).
We hypothesized that a shift from a traditional teacher preparation graduate program to an asynchronous online environment could provide the flexibility and convenience career changers demanded. The literature supported that online program formats can prepare candidates to successfully develop their skills to plan, deliver instruction, assess student learning, and engage and motivate learners. The design fully acknowledged career changers are unique students and that an online learning environment has challenges but through purposeful course and program design that included quality communication strategies, easy-to-use learning management system, teacher presence, and the establishment of an environment that provides a feeling of community and inclusion a program can increase student satisfaction, retention and completion.