How Faculty Members Can Become More Efficient

A full-time faculty member will spend 37.2 hours a week on teaching and related instructional activities [1], not including research and professional activities. Aligned with this estimate, Inegbedion found that of the three areas of academic workload, 45.5% of a professor’s time was spent on teaching-related activities, 25.8% on research and scholarship activities, and 28.8% on service-related activities [2]. It is clear from these estimates of instructor workload that teaching is a time-intensive activity. The time demands are arguably increased in the online classroom where faculty take on three roles: subject matter expert, course designer, and tech support [3]. Considering these multifaceted responsibilities, solutions that maximize efficiency are essential. Faculty can reclaim valuable hours by streamlining repetitive and administrative tasks, shifting our focus toward more meaningful, one-on-one interactions and deeper engagement with course content. This strategic reallocation enhances the quality of education and intensifies the impact of our time spent with students.

Course Design Strategies to Support Efficient Online Teaching

Effective course design is central to creating an effective online learning environment. Course design serves as the “anchor around which the class (and learning) happens” [4], underlining its pivotal role in education. Implementing best practices in course design significantly enhances both teaching efficiency and student learning outcomes. Below, we offer established strategies with associated specific practices to design online courses that support efficient teaching.

Use modular structure and organization. A fundamental best practice in online learning is to chunk the course content into distinct modules. This approach not only helps in breaking down information into manageable pieces but also facilitates smoother course flow. Each module should ideally include all necessary materials—readings, tests, assignments, and discussion links—organized under clearly labeled folders such as "Start Here" or "Introduction Module (Week Zero)." This initial organization aids students in navigating the course from the outset, reducing confusion and minimizing the common issue of students struggling to locate resources.

To further streamline this process and enhance navigational ease, maintain a consistent structure across all modules. Use sub-folders like “Required Readings,” “Optional Readings,” and “Assignments” within each module. Such consistency allows students to quickly understand the course layout and access materials effortlessly, thereby reducing the frequency of queries related to material location and allowing more time for engagement with course content.

Implement strategic content delivery. Utilize pre-recorded lectures to convey theoretical knowledge, which students can access flexibly, aligning with their schedules. This method ensures that lectures are delivered in a polished and concise manner, and also frees up synchronous session times for interactive discussions, practical exercises, and deeper exploration of topics. In addition, it allows for the repurposing of stable content from term to term, reducing the need to develop new instructional materials.

Automate with technology. Leverage the capabilities of learning management systems (LMS) to automate and organize course administrative tasks as much as possible. Features like automatic grading of quizzes and exams, tracking of student progress, and scheduled announcements can significantly reduce the instructor’s administrative burden. Effective use of LMS tools not only enhances teaching efficiency but also improves the learning experience by providing students with timely feedback and support.

Continuously revise the course. Implement efficient feedback loops that allow for continuous communication between students and faculty. This can be facilitated through structured discussion boards, periodic surveys, and prompt responses to assignments. Regularly updating course content based on feedback and learning analytics is crucial for addressing any pedagogical issues and enhancing course delivery over time. As the course progresses and improves, you can clarify confusing aspects and reduce the need for administrative or communication tasks that arise from student confusion.

Address accessibility and inclusion. Ensure that all course materials are accessible to every student, including those with disabilities. This includes providing captioned videos, screen-reader-friendly course materials, and alternative text for images. Not only does a focus on accessibility comply with educational standards, but it also ensures an inclusive learning environment where all students have an equal opportunity to succeed. Integrating accessibility into course materials aligns with educational standards and boosts instructional efficiency. By making content universally accessible—including captioned videos, screen-reader-friendly materials, and image alt-text—instructors can minimize the need for individual accommodations and reduce basic queries. This streamlined communication enhances student understanding and engagement, leading to higher satisfaction and success rates, and allows educators to focus on enriching the educational experience rather than addressing accessibility barriers.

Create Assignments with Instructional Efficiency in Mind

Effective assignment design is key for enhancing teaching efficiency and student learning outcomes. Observing student questions and common errors each semester provides valuable insights into potential design flaws. If certain questions recur or mistakes are consistently made, this is an indication that course instructions need refining. By addressing these recurring issues directly in the assignment instructions, you can significantly reduce the time spent on clarifying questions and correcting errors.

Streamlined assignment design. Students often approach writing assignments with varying strategies. Some provide concise, well-targeted responses, while others may adopt a more scattered approach, embedding key points within a larger body of text. This variability can make grading time-intensive, as instructors might have to sift through content to locate specific answers. To counter this, consider implementing structured templates for assignments that require detailed responses. For instance, in a lesson plan assignment focused on accommodating students with special needs, a chart template that specifies parts of the lesson plan, the special need, and required accommodations can streamline both the writing and grading processes. This approach helps students focus their responses and makes it easier for instructors to assess the work efficiently.

Use templates for complex assignments. Another practical application of templates can be seen in assignments like movie reviews, where students relate educational theories to films. Instead of having students write an open-ended essay, a template with numbered questions and allocated space for each response can be used. This structured format guides students in their writing and ensures that responses are well-organized, making the grading process quicker and more straightforward for instructors. Such templates allow for expansion within each section, accommodating detailed analysis without compromising the organization of the content.

Incorporate rubrics. To further enhance the clarity and consistency of assignments, employ detailed rubrics. Rubrics outline detailed criteria for grading, setting clear expectations for students before they begin an assignment. This transparency helps align student efforts with learning objectives and assessment standards, minimizing ambiguity and potential bias in grading. Rubrics are particularly useful in maintaining high academic standards and ensuring fairness, especially in assignments aimed at assessing higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy [5].

Implement Efficient Feedback Strategies

Providing timely and effective feedback is essential for enhancing student learning, but it can be incredibly time-consuming. Faculty can adopt several strategies to streamline the feedback process while maintaining its quality and impact.

Use automated and structured feedback. For assessments like quizzes, employing automated feedback can significantly increase efficiency. Instead of individualized feedback for every response in multiple-choice and true-false quizzes, automated systems can provide immediate explanations for why an answer was incorrect. For instance, if a student selects the wrong answer, the system should provide feedback explaining why the choice is incorrect, and ideally, it should offer explanations for all incorrect options. To aid further learning, include specific references to the course material, such as the textbook chapter and page number, where students can find more detailed information. This structured approach saves time and reinforces learning by directing students to review relevant materials.

Develop feedback banks. For more subjective assignments, creating a bank of pre-written, or "canned," feedback can reduce the time spent typing repetitive comments. This feedback should be organized by course and assignment and can be efficiently managed using a document with a table of contents created through features like Microsoft Word’s “Headings”; further, its implementation can be automated through the use of text expanders. This allows for quick navigation and easy customization of feedback for each student. Design this canned feedback to cover typical responses such as perfect scores, common mistakes, and areas where students struggled. Most feedback will only require minor adjustments to suit individual submissions, which is much more efficient than writing new feedback each time. For instance, in a movie review assignment, you might have a template comment like "You did an excellent job in aligning [movie] with [educational theory] by the following: [reasons]," where only the bracketed sections need to be customized. 

Align feedback with rubrics. Aligning feedback banks with the grading rubric for each assignment ensures that comments are relevant and consistent. Work through each criterion of the rubric and prepare general feedback for different levels of achievement. This speeds up the grading process and helps ensure fairness and transparency in how feedback and grades are assigned.

Additional efficient feedback practices. To further enhance the efficiency of providing feedback while maintaining its educational impact, faculty can adopt several additional practices. Using rubrics is highly effective, as they clearly articulate the grading criteria and expected quality of work, reducing the need for extensive clarifications. Audio or video feedback is another innovative approach that can be quicker than typing detailed comments and delivers nuances in tone that written text may miss, making the feedback feel more personalized and direct. Employing feedback templates for common issues can save significant time; these can be quickly adapted to individual needs while ensuring that students receive all necessary guidance. Additionally, addressing common issues through collective feedback for the entire class via general announcements or group feedback sessions can prevent repetitive individual comments, streamlining the process further. These strategies improve the efficiency of feedback delivery and enhance its overall effectiveness in fostering student learning. 

Conclusion

Recognizing the substantial time commitments required for teaching, particularly in the online environment where faculty assume multiple roles, it is essential to adopt efficient practices that enhance the quality and delivery of instruction. The strategies outlined here emphasize the importance of streamlining course design and feedback mechanisms to free up valuable time for more impactful student interactions. By incorporating modular organization, leveraging technology for automation, and employing strategic feedback techniques, online instructors can significantly improve the efficiency of their teaching processes. These practices ease the instructional burden and foster a more engaging and inclusive learning environment. Faculty members are encouraged to integrate these strategies into their teaching routines, continuously refine their approaches based on feedback, and remain proactive in utilizing tools that enhance instructional efficiency without sacrificing the quality of student learning outcomes. 

References

About the Authors

Elbert Davis, an assistant professor at Marshall University since 2015, has earned an Ed.D, degree, an Ed.S. degree, and three M.A. degrees in education. He teaches for the Graduate Curriculum and Instruction program in the College of Education and Professional Development. He also currently serves as the revalidation coordinator, alternative certification coordinator, and the instructional processes and strategies coordinator.  He has earned two Blackboard Exemplary Course awards.

Jean Mandernach, Ph.D., is Executive Director of the Center for Innovation in Research on Teaching at Grand Canyon University. Her research focuses on enhancing student learning experiences in the online classroom through innovative instructional and assessment strategies. She explores strategies for integrating efficient online instruction in a manner that maximizes student learning, satisfaction, and engagement. In addition, she has interests in artificial intelligence, innovative faculty development and evaluation models, teaching and learning analytics, emergent instructional technology, and faculty workload considerations. Mandernach is an active researcher, author, presenter, and consultant in the field of online education.