Episode 46: Tiny Desk Concert - Wai Ling Fong's Dissertation Defense

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Greg
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Creative Work Hour podcast. This is episode 46. Can you believe it? Where does time go? I don't know. We're in for a special treat today. We've been following along with Wei-Ling Fong on her defense dissertation. And earlier in the week, you heard her do a practice session. for a Tiny Desk Concert. And today we're going to do the Tiny Desk Concert, which is leading up to her final presentation. So Alessandra, we've got Wei Ling in the room with us and she's going to talk, do the Tiny Desk Concert. Do you want to explain what that is real quick?

Alessandra
I do. So in Creative Work Hour, the whole concept of Creative Work Hour is a community of people who come together. We all met each other on Zoom in different online course environments. Some of them are premium courses. Some of them were medium-priced courses. Everything was about our childish need and desire to learn. And when we found each other, it kind of stuck. And after the courses were long gone, and all the notes were lost in some PKM system somewhere, we all stuck together. Now, we all came into those courses with goals and dreams, and some of those came to fruition, and some of those kept growing, and some of those got lost and found again.

Alessandra
But our featured guest, Wai-Ling Fong, has been with Creative Work Hour from the very beginning, almost four years, over 1,400 sessions of Creative Work Hour. And she has been working toward her PhD for as long as we have known her. And it is just about time to wrap up that big, what feels like a lifetime project, I'm sure. I want to welcome in Wai-Ling Fong. Wai-Ling, how are you today? And with your dissertation presentation and the defense for it, in two days time how are you doing and how has it helped you so far that you did a work in progress practice with us and got feedback and so where are you now and how do you feel?

Wai Ling
Yeah, thank you for having me. So I would say the practice on Monday was very helpful, especially for me, because I was still working on my slides up until Sunday night. And that was before Monday's first rehearsal. I haven't even had time to practice. And I'm like, OK, this has to get out. i just do what I can. So I did that. I got really, really good feedback. As usual, the Creative Work Hour members are always very encouraging and they gave me really good tips. For example, what happens if I forget? or what if I maybe stumble and am at a loss for words.

Wai Ling
So I find that preparation not only just presenting the slides, but the behind the scenes things and also the anticipation of what could happen was really helpful.

Greg
So let's have a listen to that recording of Wei Ling doing her tiny desk concert.

Wai Ling
Good morning and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for being here. I'd like to begin by taking us back to March 2020, when the rest of the world came to a sudden stop. Colleges and universities were forced into emergency remote teaching overnight, and faculty had to move their in-person courses online with very little preparation. It was a time of uncertainty and urgency, and in the midst of all this, centres for teaching and learning stepped in to create emergency faculty development to help faculty transition during this moment. When George Mason closed for remote learning during the spring break, the Stern Center for Teaching and Learning quickly stepped in with a new program.

Wai Ling
It's called the Online Course Design Primer to help Mason faculty transition online. It first piloted in spring 2020. There were 298 participants and it only had five modules. But in the summer version, it got expanded to seven modules. There were also over 200 participants and it was offered again in the fall of 2020 with a smaller pool. So the purpose of the online course design primer is really to equip faculty with the best practices for online teaching that they can use right away. It was created as a rapid response, it's asynchronous, it's on blackboard, and it was facilitated by a Stern Center facilitator as well as a faculty's facilitator.

Wai Ling
Participants were grouped according to their disciplines to create a sense of shared learning together. While the pandemic was the catalyst that shaped my research, the idea really didn't come until much later. Because I had time to think and look back on how much changes have taken place in higher education. And at the same time, realising that many faculty have gone through this training. And as we return to normalcy, I begin to ask this question. What lessons start with faculty after the training? And in my research, I learned that when it comes to evaluating faculty development, most evaluation are short term.

Wai Ling
This means that it was conducted right after the training, it captured participants' immediate feedback and reaction, and it's typically quantitative. Now, there is nothing wrong with these evaluations because they are quick and easy, but it misses out on giving us a fuller picture on what the training really resulted in the long term. Because in long-term evaluations, they are typically conducted weeks or months after a program, sometimes even years, and it really captures the context of what happens to participants after the program and when they return to their workplace and look at the environment. So it really can tell us if it was successful or not successful in helping faculty learn the skills they needed.

Wai Ling
To guide my study, I used the Kirkpatrick Evaluation Framework, which is a widely used model in training and program evaluation. And what I appreciate about this framework is that it's able to show us some of the shorter term evaluation, which is the reaction and learning, but also the longer term evaluations like behavior and results. And with this, in my study, I'm focusing on the first three level, which captures the participants' reaction, what they learn, and also if they were able to translate their training when they return to the workplace. I did not include results because my focus is on faculty's experiences, and I am not looking at the larger organisation change.

Wai Ling
With that, this is my overarching question. How did participation in the OCDP influence faculty's teaching practices over the long term? And in line with Kirkpatrick, I further break down my question into, how did participants respond to the OCDP? What knowledge or skills did they gain from the OCDP? And lastly, how have they applied their learning to their current teaching practice? To answer this research question, I employed a qualitative case study on a single site at George Mason University. It's intrinsic because I am only interested in understanding this particular program at George Mason University. It's also exploratory because the COVID-19 aftermath is still a relatively new phenomenon and I'm not sure what I'm going to find.

Wai Ling
So my aim is to understand the situation I'm looking at data sources from 2021 and 2024 and employed a thematic analysis to look at the data. Now, with every case study, I also make sure that I have boundaries to ensure that I am focused at the case. So because there are several forms of OCDP, I'm only looking at those with the seven modules. That means only the summer and the fall. I had a total of 14 participants. All of them completed the course either in the summer or fall, and they have also participated in the 2021 extended assessment interviews.

Wai Ling
My participants come from multiple disciplines and rankings, but a majority of them, 13 of them are in the summer module, and I have one in the fall module. my data sources. I work with multiple data sources in this case study. My 2021 extended data source was collected in a prior study by the Stern Centre. So I'm going to preface that I did not do the data collection, but I was fortunate to get my hands on them. They are a combination of closed and open-ended surveys and also self-report interviews, which means that the study was reliant on how faculty were reporting what they learned and what they were applying.

Wai Ling
Now, in 2024, I made a call for interviews for the similar participants in 2021, and I've interviewed them in semi-structured interviews, and they were against self-reporting. To extend my understanding of the case, I've also talked with facilitators from the Stern Center. I reviewed the OCDP modules on Blackboard, as well as writing researchers' memo to track the evolution of my thinking. My research process can be categorized in four large phase. So in phase one, I familiarize myself with the 2021 data. This is because I was working with an external data set and my goal was to understand what was going on.

Wai Ling
I use inductive coding without any framework to just let the patterns emerge. I've also wrote researcher's memo to help me track my thinking. Now in phase two, I began data collection for the 2024 data. I made a call for interviews. I've conducted every time after an interview, I've also conducted an inductive coding, which is just to let data surface. This was also the time that I talked with the facilitators from the Stern Center, as well as reviewing the OCDP modules. Now, when I enter phase three, I already have a background and a general understanding of my 2021 data and my 2024 data.

Wai Ling
But I still needed a framework to help me understand what I'm looking at according to the Kirkpatrick model. So that's what I did. I used the Kirkpatrick model and make sure that I am looking at the data through the lens of the three levels. And during this time, I've also conducted triangulation with the OCDP modules and also the interviews I've had with the facilitators to help me form the understanding of what I'm looking at. And entering phase four is when I conducted the parallel analysis with 2021 and 2024, and that's when I began writing the report.

Wai Ling
Now, findings. The very first level examines how participants respond to the OCDP. In my study, I found four themes. In general, both 2021 and 2024, participants were happy. They reported that they found a lot of support from the facilitators, the course content was relevant, and they also enjoyed the learning through community. So this really understanding how participants enjoy the program really gives us a better understanding on what makes this program thick. However, like all programs, this was not perfect. There was also feedback saying that the course was time intensive and also because there were a level of technology required.

Wai Ling
So for faculty who may not be so familiar with the technology, they were struggling in some sense trying to learn the technology and apply the new learning at the same time. Now, level two, we are entering a more tangible part of really listening what faculty learn. And these were the four main online teaching skills that repeatedly surfaced in my interviews. So they talk about being more intentional with organizing their course through modular course organization. They also talk about the importance of chunking, which is breaking down their materials into smaller bits to avoid information overload for their students.

Wai Ling
And they find that students get to perform better in their assessment. They also understood the importance of regular communication with students. And this means it's not only reaching students in one part, but multiple parts throughout the course. It could be email, through their blackboard, and also through their syllabus updates. So these are like multiple touch points. And when it comes to assessment design, faculty really understood that it is actually quality over quantity. They understood that it's not about how frequent you give the assessment, but how aligned are they with the learning objective. And even if it's far and few in the course, as long as students are able to demonstrate in high quality assessments that met the learning goals.

Wai Ling
And Level 3 is when we really come into the longer term. So what was surprising and encouraging about Level 3 is that seeing that when faculty returned to the physical classroom in 2024, many of them are still incorporating these strategies. They reported sustained improvements in their teaching practices. Faculty share with me the tools that they still continue to use from the course. They were also blending online strategies that they learned in their in-person teaching. For example, even if they return to in-person, they still use discussion board prompts to encourage the discussion on the asynchronous background before they meet in in-person.

Wai Ling
15:57 - 16:48
And key change drivers is actually a very important finding because like every training, the material is insufficient. You need systems in place to make sure that there are support that help the faculty keep learning the things. So in my finding, I find that faculty still return to the resources and they are templates, the rubrics, discussion prompts that they learn from the OCD pre-module and they're still implementing today. And this shows that good resources can actually last beyond just their training, but extend beyond that. So there are limitations and considerations to my study. It's a small sample size.

Wai Ling
I've only spoken to 14 participants. It's on a single institution, so it's not generalizable. And there's also a potential for recall bias because it's a longitudinal study. Memory is fallible. People may not be so accurate with what they remember. And there's also no control group for comparison. However, with these limitations in mind, what can we learn for future practice? First, When it comes to centres for teaching and learning, this study has shown that it's very important to foster the positive engagement with faculty. And positive engagement is not just with their peers, but also with facilitators.

Wai Ling
When faculty trust the facilitators, they are more willing to implement what they learn and also to return to the centre again and again to seek these resources. And then in my study, I also find that the accessible resources are very important to sustain the learning. Facilitators' guidance are also key. Many participants credited the facilitators for being the module available. And there was not only a sense of gratitude, but also there's a sense of like, this is the kind of support that I want to emulate eventually. So facilitators actually serve as role models. Now, when it comes to institutions, while it's common for institutions to provide financial incentives for participants to join programs like this, This study shows that it's actually more, it's just the first part.

Wai Ling
But what matters more is when you reward participants or faculty members who join and also serve as mentors for their own peers. Because one thing I've discovered from this study is that people like learning from people who are the same peer because they understand each other. And with this, you are promoting a culture of continuous learning and creating more opportunities to have more, to provide a culture of ongoing learning and provide opportunities for people to just keep sharing the knowledge. So the recommendations for future research is that There is a need for longitudinal studies. While it is time intensive and resource intensive, there are actually insights that come from this study that really points to what makes a program effective for the long run.

Wai Ling
So while it is hard to implement long-term studies for every study out there, I would recommend that it be implemented for studies that are like flagship programs in an institution. For example, most institutions have orientation programs for new faculty, and these are ongoing on a year-to-year basis. These are great programs for long-term evaluations. And finally, there are also, when it comes to, yeah, prioritize, yeah, okay, we, and sorry, And we also need tools to evaluate beyond satisfaction. And this means not just looking at participants' satisfaction, but also what they learn and what they have implemented when they return to their workplace.

Wai Ling
So in conclusion, while this study is focused on one specific program in a very unique moment in history, what we've learned, the principles that emerge from what makes faculty training effective, like peer, peer-to-peer learning, supportive facilitators, accessible resources. These are actually timeless. And these are principles that can be applied in future faculty development programs. So as higher education continue to evolve, the big question is not about creating programs that is only a one-time targeted learning, but how we can create programs that last through the through time and in multiple contexts. And with that, I'm gonna open the floor for discussion.

Devin
Yay, and 18 minutes, 10 seconds.

Wai Ling
Okay, good, good, good. I guess there are some part I stumble, but I think I can, yeah, I need to practice more.

Shadows Pub
It's not a fumble, it's the recovery and you recovered. 

Alessandra
But what shadows said, what I was just going to say is, there's such a difference between how it went when you practice the first time, and this one, it sounds like. It looks and feels and is paced as though you had two rehearsals since the last one. There's such a huge difference. And it's just, it's really, really smooth. And there's so many quirks that you worked out of the slides that it looks like you sent it to a design house to have it done.

Wai Ling
Oh no, thank you, thank you.

Bobby. B
You know, I gotta say, yeah, there were blips and stumbles. But you know this stuff, and there wasn't the, you know, there wasn't the, oh my gosh, am I worried about, or do they really believe me or whatever. The way you recovered from every one of those. signaled that you know this  stuff. And so kudos to you. Like you said, a little bit more practice, you'll get some more fluidity. But no doubt that you own this presentation end to end. And that was really good.

Alessandra
I think Gray had something for you too.

Gray
I mean, it's just basically I'm going to copy Bobby, but just in a different way. I have my own little crises going on, so I've only been able to have half an ear there. But the one thing that occurred to me was when I did hear that little bobble and when you came back and laid it down, I was like... Damn, it was such a recovery and such a clear, this is what it is. And like Bobby said, and the fluidity and stuff, you don't sound like you're reading slides. You don't sound like you're reading a presentation.

Gray
You sound like you are engaged about something you're very passionate about, something you're very knowledgeable about, and you're explaining it to us. And that's really engaging and really good.

Devin
Thank you. Yeah, I'm going to second that. That's exactly what I was going to say. I'm sure there's a great sports analogy here that I don't know enough to make. But when you were picking up and recovering, it sounded like the bottle itself sounded like, not that you made a mistake, it sounded like you were so excited to get this information across that that's why it happened. It happened because you just couldn't get this information out there fast enough, so you kind of tripped up your own feet as you were getting adopted, but who cares? 

Devin
Cause the energy was there like, she is so excited about this and so wants me to get it that she just can't get it out of her and into my brain fast enough. And like, who can fault you for that? Because that's like, that's good energy.

Alessandra
Pick an emoji, pick an emoji. What I love is that, you know how I always, I've reminded you when you were doing the three minute thesis and this one, like, have some kind of a post-it note nearby that gives you an essence. And I felt like I could almost see your desk and that I could see a post-it note that was saying, keep going with a smiley face on it because that's what you were doing. So it didn't, it's like, it made it better. Like Devin said, because it made you sound like you were truly excited that you're not like, they're going to have some burned out candidates come up in there tomorrow, but you ain't one of them.

Gray
I don't know if this is possible, but I will say that this happens sometimes with people. And in general, whenever I'm giving anybody coaching on presentations, I tell them that if you can't think of what to say next, just stand there silently looking at the audience, because it'll take them a second. They'll be like, oh, I'm supposed to be thinking about what she said. She's giving me a moment to digest it. And in reality, you're going, fuck, what's my next slide? And then when you think of it, it just sounds like you just took that pause for effect.

Gray
So if you can get out of the habit of letting your mouth keep trying to find the right slide and just do it inside your head and make it a pause, no one will know. They'll say, wow, your timing was so great. It's the Miles Davis, the most important part is the spaces between the notes. 

Bobby. B
I just, that was such a great observation, Wei-Ling. I never heard I never heard any of those things. It's like the track may have been wobbly, but never did I think you were doubting yourself here. So yeah, that's a huge presentation skill and you never sped up. It's like, okay, I got a little nerves, but I'm a professional here.

Alessandra
This may sound familiar because we've talked about it before, but this was an A plus plus dress rehearsal. If it had been better, that would have not been good. It's always best to have some little wobblies in the ankles at the dress rehearsal. If the dress rehearsal is perfect, you've already taken all of the energy that you're going to need for tomorrow. So you get an A++ dress rehearsal.

Wai Ling
Thank you everyone for supporting It really, it's really, I, I, it was the first time I do the first run like that and I'm happy that the time frame is within 20. So yeah, I just need to do a few more rounds. 

Alessandra
We're going to call that a wrap and I'm going to end the recording. How do you feel Wai Ling? In one word. 

Wai Ling
Uh yeah i feel like still wobbly in some part especially the back part like the recommendations all i gotta work on that uh but yeah i i hope that i was clear and not like a train because i felt like a train i felt like okay next next time yeah It's good. 

Alessandra
Okay, well, that's a wrap for Wai Ling Fong's candidate for PhD at George Mason University. This is the end. Well done on her dress rehearsal and good luck tomorrow. We love you, we believe in you, and we know it's going to be good. Take care of yourself between now and then.

Greg
Well, that was really good, Wai Ling. Absolutely awesome. Alessandra, do you have any final comments before we close out or is it that time again? 

Alessandra
It is almost that time again. And what I'm hoping is that as a graphic designer, doing slides and multimedia for presentations is like one of the things that I love to do. So if Wai Ling does have five or 10 minutes where she's not hashing out all of the other work that she has to do, we might be able to take the notes that I took, hop into a breakout room, and sort out some things. So I'm wondering, Wai Ling, is that something that you might want to do? And if you feel like that might increase your confidence because we don't want to rebuild the house, the house is built.

Alessandra
We just might be able to move the furniture around just a tiny bit and open up so that the focus stays on what you're teaching and what you're conveying to the committee.

Wai Ling
Yes yes I would definitely appreciate that because at this moment I am overwhelmed with how to tell the information but I think having an extra external eyes just to see what people are looking at and what they are comprehending at first in the first three seconds would be really helpful so I would love that.

Alessandra
Well, we will do that. And what I love about how you shared this particular version of your work with us is that we not only got to see the slides as they will appear to your committee, but we also got to see the text on the side of, this is what you're going to be saying. And it really gave us a behind the scenes look of, it would have made it look way too deceptively easy if we couldn't have seen the text on the side with your script. And so at this point, are you still cinching that up and making that more compact?

Alessandra
Because it sounded as though there were there was a concern that you had a couple of days ago when we heard the work in progress version of this that, oh my gosh, the time, how can I compress it?

Wai Ling
Yes, yes. You actually, you brought up a couple of good points. So yes, I am pressed for time because the direction from my chair is that I should get this down to 15 to 20 minutes. And it is actually quite a big challenge, especially when you're condensing a dissertation research that took over 17 months. But the challenge that came from my chair is that as a researcher, it is actually a very good trait to be able to compress information in a way that is accessible, that doesn't take up people's time. So I took that as a challenge.

Wai Ling
Um, but my other challenge is that as a, as someone who doesn't speak English as a first language, I always feel like, uh, the, like I'm always at a loss for words, especially when it comes to presentation. And that's why I would have opening lines that kind, I call it anchor lines. So every slide will have an anchor line to just tell me what to ease into and. when I'm able to read or be reminded of these anchor lines, it just gives me more confidence. So when I look at the script, even though there's a lot, actually it's only the first two lines that serve its purpose.

Wai Ling
And then after that, I think it's just like, I let the automation take over. But having those anchor lines really helped me to smooth in rather than first looking at the image and I'm like okay I gotta talk about this and then the brain is trying to compute the first phrase.

Alessandra
Well it's very meta isn't it because you're talking about teaching and learning and this presentation that you're giving is to professionals in the industry of teaching and learning and you are teaching and learning how to teach and learn all at the same time. It's so meta that it's proof of concept that it's really happening. It's proof of concept that this material works. And so, yes, I do see you becoming quite known for when it all hits the fan, how to help teachers adapt. So thank you so much for spending your time with us. I'm going to hand it over to Greg and do that signature thing, but I just wanted to ask you, because you have mentioned her on on at the weekend when you were doing your work, your work in progress.

Alessandra
You mentioned her again today, but your, your major advisor, what is, what is her name? Because I bet she would love a shout out in this podcast episode.

Wai Ling
Yeah, she's amazing. My chair is Dr Kelly Shrum. She is the Interim Director for the Higher Education Program for Graduate Students. And I've worked with her pretty much from Portfolio 1. So in my program, instead of doing a comms exam, we go through portfolios before we advance to the candidacy stage. And she's just very supportive. And I really think too, when it comes to a doctoral program, we, yes, expertise is one thing, like whoever you work with, you know, to have someone who knows what's the landscape of the field that you're interested in. But more importantly, it's about an empathetic and very supportive person to guide you through.

Wai Ling
And I'm just so, so thankful. I think I wouldn't have come here, reached this stage without her guidance. So yes, that's Dr. Kelly Schramm from George Mason University.

Alessandra
Well, I know that you're doing her really proud, as you do us proud, your friends at Creative Work Hour. Greg, what time is it?

Greg
You know what? I was just thinking that. It's that time again. You've wasted some perfectly good minutes listening to the Creative Work Hour podcast when you could have been doing something else. But check back because we're going to talk to Wiling again after she actually does this dissertation defense. So we're looking forward to that. But in the meantime, stay safe and come back and listen to us next time. Have a good day.