The Four Transactional Distances of the Apocalypse: a Critical Realist Case Study of Higher Education During Covid-19
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Concordia University St. Paul DigitalCommons@CSP Doctorate in Education 5-1-2021 THE FOUR TRANSACTIONAL DISTANCES OF THE APOCALYPSE: A CRITICAL REALIST CASE STUDY OF HIGHER EDUCATION DURING COVID-19 Lee Ann Dickerson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/edd Part of the Online and Distance Education Commons Recommended Citation Dickerson, L. (2021). THE FOUR TRANSACTIONAL DISTANCES OF THE APOCALYPSE: A CRITICAL REALIST CASE STUDY OF HIGHER EDUCATION DURING COVID-19 (Dissertation, Concordia University, St. Paul). Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.csp.edu/edd/18 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@CSP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Doctorate in Education by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@CSP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE FOUR TRANSACTIONAL DISTANCES OF THE APOCALYPSE: A CRITICAL REALIST CASE STUDY OF HIGHER EDUCATION DURING COVID-19 BY Lee Ann Dickerson A Dissertation In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education College of Education May, 2021 Dissertation Committee: Acacia Nikoi, Ph.D. Laura Wangsness Willemsen, Ph.D. Jonathan Clemens, Ph.D. © 2021 Lee Ann Dickerson ABSTRACT Lee Ann Dickerson Concordia University, Saint Paul The purpose of this comparative, longitudinal case study was to explore the distance operations system implemented in U.S. colleges and universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Embedded in a larger two-year study of distance education in the U.S. before and after the health crisis, this study combined a grounded theory methodology with a critical realist approach to identify the components of the distance operations system and illuminate the generative mechanisms that promote or inhibit effective distance education. Primary data for this study consisted of interviews of faculty, staff, and administration of four higher education institutions at two collection points: first during the spring and summer academic terms of 2020; and second, during or immediately after the fall 2020 academic term. Secondary data included participant-provided and public-facing documents, communications, and artifacts related to the transition to and continuity of distance operations. This study refines the construct of transactional distance (Moore, 1993) and offers a typology of distance in two domains: the physical domain, which includes temporal and transportational distance; and the psychological domain, which includes socio-personal and cognitive distance. This research has the potential to both disturb and inform higher education thought and action regarding the ways distance and distance education have been discussed, researched, and practiced. This study reveals that participants variously acted or reacted to, altered or shaped, and measured or adjudged the effects of distance. Thus, this dissertation argues that distance is a construct that higher education can and should distinguish, control, and wield for its purposes. Findings contribute to what is known about distance education at the macro level of theory and systems (Zawacki-Richter, 2009) and i point to a need to evaluate the different types of distance and further explore how and under what circumstances distance may be most effective for any institutional activities. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................................... v LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... vi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................. 1 Contextual Clarification ............................................................................................................. 3 Background ................................................................................................................................ 6 Persistent Challenges ............................................................................................................. 7 Peculiar Realities ................................................................................................................... 9 Recurring Difficulties .......................................................................................................... 10 Statement of the Problem ......................................................................................................... 14 Study Purpose, Research Questions, and Rationale ................................................................. 15 Study Impetus .......................................................................................................................... 16 Overview of Research Sites and Participants .......................................................................... 17 Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................................ 19 Significance .............................................................................................................................. 21 Definitions ................................................................................................................................ 22 Summary and Preview ............................................................................................................. 22 CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ................................................................ 24 History of Distance Education ................................................................................................. 25 Educational Access ............................................................................................................. 26 Technological Advancement ............................................................................................... 28 Pedagogical Change ............................................................................................................ 32 The State of Distance Education Research .............................................................................. 35 A Micro-Level View ........................................................................................................... 36 A Systems View ....................................................................................................................... 38 The Many Meanings of Distance ............................................................................................. 42 Transactional Distance Theory ................................................................................................ 44 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 50 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY ..................................................................................... 53 Research Design ....................................................................................................................... 55 Theory in Research Design ................................................................................................. 56 Critical Realism ................................................................................................................... 57 Case Study ........................................................................................................................... 62 The Case Boundary ............................................................................................................. 64 Grounded Theory ................................................................................................................ 65 Summary of Research Design ............................................................................................. 66 Participants ............................................................................................................................... 66 Role of the Researcher ............................................................................................................. 71 Research Ethics ........................................................................................................................ 75 Instrumentation and Protocols.................................................................................................. 77 Procedures and Analysis .......................................................................................................... 79 iii Assumptions, Limitations, and Delimitations .......................................................................... 84 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 88 CHAPTER FOUR: FINDINGS .................................................................................................... 89 System Context ........................................................................................................................ 90 Institutional Systems ..........................................................................................................