Daniel Maxey

The Delphi technique: an untapped approach of participatory research

In this article, we describe ways that the Delphi technique can be extended from its more traditional approaches and processes in order to make it a tool for scholars using participatory methods. This innovative proposed approach is called the change-oriented Delphi. We describe this innovative approach using an example from our own work to create solutions to the growth of non-tenure-track faculty in higher education institutions, which is negatively impacting student outcomes.

Revealing Opportunities and Obstacles for Changing Non-Tenure-Track Faculty Practices: An Examination of Stakeholders' Awareness of Institutional Contradictions.

Over a period of several decades, non-tenure-track faculty members (NTTF) have become a majority of instructional faculty among nonprofit higher education institutions. A growing volume of research points to a relationship between the poor working conditions or lack of support these faculty members often experience and adverse effects on student learning outcomes. Research also suggests there is limited awareness about the rising numbers of NTTFs and nature of these problems. This study utilized a modified Policy Delphi approach to surface and examine the perspectives of approximately 40 individuals representing a broad range of higher education stakeholder groups (e.g., boards, accreditation agencies, unions) about the causes and implications of rising contingency in the academic workforce. The findings suggest that awareness about how NTTF practices are inefficient and misaligned with stakeholders’ common commitments to student learning and the health of the academic profession has the potential to facilitate change. However, conditions were also identified that are currently obstacles for change. This study contributes to a better understanding of factors influencing change in higher education and suggests how a set of resonant values and interests may be evoked by change agents to increase awareness and support for revising or replacing existing NTTF practices.

Troubling Ethical Lapses: The Treatment of Contingent Faculty

In an important study of Ford Motor Companys unwillingness to recall the defective Pinto, which resulted in numerous deaths, Dennis Gioia (1992) demonstrated how organizations reinforce the schema...

Leveraging the Delphi Technique to Enrich Knowledge and Engage Educational Policy Problems

The Delphi technique is a research method that involves experts and stakeholders in structured deliberation about topics through multiple, iterative rounds of data collection such as surveys or in-person meetings. Although it has been utilized extensively in other fields for researching problems, when there is disagreement among key stakeholders or as issues are just emerging, it has been less common in educational research. In this article, the authors outline the Delphi technique, review the scope of its recent applications in educational research, and offer recommendations to advance efforts to support changes in policies and practices through Delphi approaches to research.

Overcoming Obstacles for Involving Part-Time Faculty in Service-Learning

One of the main challenges facing community colleges in creating and sustaining service-learning curricula and programs is their growing reliance on part-time non-tenure-track faculty. Although research suggests there is strong interest among non-tenure-track faculty in civic engagement and utilizing service-learning in their courses, these faculty members often face obstacles that limit their involvement (Garcia and Robinson 2005; Antonio, Astin, and Cress 2000). Studies have demonstrated how the working conditions of part-time faculty constrain their ability to provide a high-quality learning environment for their students, including their utilization of high-impact practices, teaching strategies, and pedagogies such as service-learning (Baldwin and Wawrzynski 2011; Umbach 2007). In addition to receiving inequitable compensation and benefits, they are often hired at the last minute and given little time to prepare for teaching their courses, lack opportunities for professional development, and may not have access to materials, support personnel, office space, or email addresses to help them fulfill their duties for instruction effectively. They may also be excluded from departmental faculty meetings or from making contributions to curriculum design. These are only a few factors that constrain the work of non-tenure-track faculty. While much has been written about part-time faculty over the last several years, only a few publications such as the American Association of Community Colleges’ Creating a Climate for Service Learning Success (Jeandron and Robinson 2010) and Transcending Disciplines, Reinforcing Curricula: Why Faculty Teach with Service Learning (Garcia and Robinson 2005) have called attention to positive steps that can be taken to help them to utilize high-impact practices, effective teaching strategies, or pedagogies such as service-learning in a better manner.