Appendix: Survey Questions

The text below includes the full set of survey questions for this project, though not all results are discussed in this article. Identifying information has been redacted to retain participant confidentiality as outlined in the Human Subjects protocol approved by the author's campus Institutional Review Board.

If you were employed as an instructor of writing by the X State University system during all or part of the COVID-19 pandemic (academic years 2020-2021 and/or 2021-2022) and consent to participate in this IRB-approved survey, please answer the following questions.

This research study is examining professional preparation and instructional choices in online writing instruction (OWI), looking specifically at how writing instructors navigated their preparation for and practice of online teaching, shifts in workload, and use of instructional technology. Findings may identify best practices, as well as gaps in pedagogical preparation, access to technological resources, and professional development specific to online writing instruction and could point to broader policy and disciplinary considerations regarding staffing, workload, and support for faculty, graduate students, and writing programs.

Survey Questions

  1. Do you consent to participate in this survey?
    • Yes
    • No (if you select this option, please do not answer any additional questions)

Section 1: Demographics

  1. At which X State University campus do/did you work during academic year(s) 2020-2021 and/or 2021-2022?
    • (drop down list of 23 campuses and option reading "I do not work/have not worked at a X State University campus in the 2020-2021 or 2021-2022 academic year. If you select this option, please discontinue with the rest of the survey ")
  2. What is the highest level graduate degree you hold?
    • Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science
    • Master of Arts or Master of Science
    • Master of Fine Arts
    • Doctorate
    • Other:
  3. In what field/specialty is your highest degree?
    • Composition
    • English
    • Rhetoric
    • Technical/Professional Communication
    • Literature
    • Linguistics
    • Humanities
    • Education
    • Other:
  4. What is your current teaching status?
    • Graduate student
    • Part-time lecturer (one-semester contract)
    • Part-time lecturer (one-year contract)
    • Part-time lecturer (three-year contract)
    • Full-time lecturer (one-year or three-year contract)
    • Tenure-track (pre-tenure)
    • Tenured
    • Retired/FERP/Emeritus
    • Part-time at multiple institutions
    • Other:
  5. How many years of teaching experience do you have?
    • 0-1
    • 2-5
    • 6-10
    • 11-20
    • 21-30
    • 31+

Section 2: Pandemic Teaching Demographics and Experiences

Please answer the following questions in relation to your teaching DURING the COVID-19 pandemic (academic years 2020-2021 and/or 2021-2022).

  1. What course levels did/do you teach (check all that apply)?
    • Undergraduate, lower division
    • Undergraduate, upper division
    • Graduate
    • Other
  2. On average, how many students did/do you teach per term?
    • 0-10
    • 11-25
    • 26-50
    • 51-75
    • 76-100
    • 101-150
    • 151+
  3. What course SUBJECTS did/do you teach (select all that apply)?
    • First-year writing/composition
    • Stretch composition/writing workshop
    • Academic literacy
    • General Education lower-division writing
    • Upper-division writing
    • Writing in the disciplines/writing across the curriculum
    • Technical, professional, scientific, and/or business writing
    • Rhetoric(s)
    • Digital, visual, or multimodal writing/rhetoric
    • Literature
    • Creative Writing
    • Other:
  4. On average, how many course SECTIONS (total number of courses) did/do you teach per term?
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
    • 6+
  5. On average, how many course PREPARATIONS (different courses) did/do you teach each term?
    • 1
    • 2
    • 3
    • 4
    • 5
    • 6+
  6. Prior to the pandemic’s start in March 2020, had you taught an online or hybrid course?
    • Yes
    • No
  7. What was your primary mode of instruction during the first full academic year of the pandemic (academic year 2020-2021)?
    • In-person (i.e., face-to-face)
    • Hybrid (i.e., a mix of in-person and online)
    • Online synchronous (i.e., live meetings taking place virtually only)
    • Online asynchronous (i.e., no live meetings)
    • Online mix (i.e., synchronous and asynchronous components taking place virtually only)
    • Other:
  8. What is your primary mode of instruction in the CURRENT academic year 2021-2022?
    • In-person (i.e., face-to-face)
    • Hybrid (i.e., a mix of in-person and online)
    • Online synchronous (i.e., live meetings taking place virtually only)
    • Online asynchronous (i.e., no live meetings)
    • Online mix (i.e., synchronous and asynchronous components taking place virtually only)
    • Other:
  9. If you had your preference, which mode of instruction would you choose when the pandemic subsides?
    • In-person (i.e., face-to-face)
    • Hybrid (i.e., a mix of in-person and online)
    • Online synchronous (i.e., live meetings taking place virtually only)
    • Online asynchronous (i.e., no live meetings)
    • Online mix (i.e., synchronous and asynchronous components taking place virtually only)
    • Other:
  10. Please explain the reason(s) for your selection in the previous question:

Section 3: Training and Professional Development: Sources and Foci

  1. Did you complete any kind of training, professional development, and/or certification to teach online prior to academic year 2020-2021?
    • Yes
    • No
    • Other:
  2. This question asks about training and professional development activities related specifically to teaching practices relevant to the online classroom such as facilitating online discussion, creating classroom community, and structuring course content. Did you participate in any PEDAGOGICAL professional development or access other resources specific to teaching online from the following sources (check all that apply)?
    • Campus-wide trainings or tutorials (asynchronous, self-paced)
    • Campus-wide trainings or workshops (synchronous) such as through a center for teaching and learning or instructional technology services department
    • Department- or program-based trainings, workshops, seminars, or reading groups
    • Professional literature such as journal articles, books, or other texts
    • Videos, websites, how-to guides, and/or materials produced by educators unaffiliated with your institution
    • Trainings or workshops provided by the X State University system or professional or disciplinary organizations unaffiliated with your institution (e.g., GSOLE, CCCC, X State University system QLT program, Online Writing Community, etc.)
    • Other:
  3. What pedagogical SUBJECTS specific to teaching online have you learned about through professional development or other resources (check all that apply)?
    • Creating community in online courses
    • Designing for student interaction
    • Designing for accessibility and/or implementing universal design for learning guidelines
    • Planning for course delivery, facilitation, and instruction • Designing for equitable learning, an inclusive classroom, or utilizing anti-racist pedagogies in online courses
    • Using Open Educational Resources (OER)
    • Using visual, multimodal, and/or interactive tools
    • Assessing student work in hybrid/online courses
    • Other:
  4. Did you receive any training, resources, or support or engage in any professional development (e.g., readings, workshops, online conferences, mentoring, etc.) specific to teaching WRITING online?
    • Yes
    • No
    • Other:
  5. What training, support, or resources (either technological or pedagogical) were/are the MOST helpful for your online or hybrid writing instruction and why (open-ended question)?

  6. What training, support, or resources (either technological or pedagogical) were/are the LEAST helpful for your online or hybrid writing instruction and why (open-ended question)?

  7. This question asks about TECHNOLOGICAL training for online classroom use, including learning management systems, specific software applications or online platforms, and/or hardware such as audio or video recording tools. Did you participate in any TECHNOLOGICAL training or access any resources specific to teaching online from the following sources (check all that apply)?
    • Campus-wide trainings or tutorials (asynchronous, self-paced)
    • Campus-wide trainings or workshops (synchronous) such as through a center for teaching and learning or instructional technology services department
    • Department- or program-based trainings, workshops, seminars, or reading groups
    • Professional literature such as journal articles, books, or other texts
    • Videos, websites, how-to guides, and/or materials produced by educators unaffiliated with your institution
    • Trainings or workshops provided by the X State University system or professional or disciplinary organizations unaffiliated with your institution (e.g., GSOLE, CCCC, X State University system QLT program, Online Writing Community, etc.)
    • Other:

Section 4: Online Instructional Technology and Digital and Multimodal Student Composing

  1. What technologies, if any, did/do you use in your online or hybrid courses in academic years 2020-2021 and/or 2021-2022 (check all that apply)?
    • Learning management system (e.g., Canvas, Blackboard, etc.)
    • Synchronous video conferencing (e.g., Zoom, WebEx, Microsoft Teams, etc.)
    • Screen-recording tools (e.g., Camtasia)
    • Video editing (e.g., iMovie, Adobe Premiere/Premiere Rush, etc.)
    • Document and presentation applications (e.g., Google Suite, Office 365, etc.)
    • Social media (e.g., Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, etc.)
    • Communication tools (e.g., Discord, Slack, GroupMe, WhatsApp, Google Meet, Google Hangout, etc.)
    • Collaboration Tools (e.g., Flipgrid, Padlet, Hypothes.is, Jamboard, etc.)
    • Design applications (e.g., Canva, Piktochart, Adobe Creative Suite/Creative Cloud Express, YouTube Studio, etc.)
    • Quizzing/polling (e.g., Kahoot, Google Forms, Quizlet, etc.)
    • Podcast creation applications (e.g., GarageBand, Adobe Audition, Audacity, Whereby, Pro Tools, etc.)
    • Open Educational Resources (e.g., OER Commons, Ted Talks, etc.)
    • Other:
  2. Have you included assignments that require students to use any specific technologies for composing digital or multimodal assignments in online or hybrid courses?
    • Yes
    • No
    • Other:
  3. If you answered yes to the previous question, could you please say more about the digital/multimodal composing work you ask(ed) students to complete (open-ended response)?

  4. If you answered yes to question about digital/multimodal assignments for students, what kind of pedagogical or technological support did/do you offer (e.g., live or recorded demonstrations, links to YouTube or other video tutorials, written documents created by you or others, one-on-one help, etc.)(open-ended response)?

Section 5: Online Writing Instruction Workload

  1. In terms of hours worked per day, did your workload increase or decrease in teaching in an online or hybrid modality in academic years 2020-2021 and/or2021-2022 compared to any previous in-person teaching you did?
    • It increased
    • It decreased
    • It stayed about the same
    • I did not teach in-person prior to the start of the pandemic
    • Other:
  2. If your workload increased in teaching online or hybrid, what is your ESTIMATION of how much it increased per week of the term?
    • 0-3 hours
    • 4-6 hours
    • 7-10 hours
    • 11 or more hours
    • Other:
  3. What were/are the biggest challenges you face/have faced in teaching WRITING as an online or hybrid course (select all that apply):
    • Additional preparation time for creating/delivering digital content (e.g., recording video lectures, creating PowerPoint/Google Slides presentations, etc.)
    • Additional preparation time for organizing/sharing content (e.g., creating Canvas modules, updating course calendars, uploading digital materials, etc.)
    • Additional time interacting with students (e.g., responding to emails, checking/responding to discussion boards, meeting with students on Zoom, etc.)
    • Additional time for attending to logistics (e.g., writing weekly messages, checking in on students, tracking missing work, etc.)
    • Additional grading or assessment time
    • Adjusting to the modality of teaching
    • Challenges in creating classroom community
    • Challenges in facilitating interaction among students or with you as an instructor
    • Feeling underprepared for pedagogical or technological challenges
    • Finding or learning new technological options for online teaching
    • Personal well-being (e.g., stress of higher workload, less contact with friends or family outside of work, mental health concerns, etc.)
    • rofessional wellbeing (e.g., feeling disconnected from colleagues or students, not attending conferences, etc.)
    • Other workload issues
    • Other:
  4. What online teaching practices will you carry/have you carried over into the face-to-face classroom, if any (open-ended question)?

  5. Please describe any instructional successes or innovations you made in your online or hybrid teaching in 2020-2021 and so far in 2021-2022?

Section 6: Online Writing Course Student Engagement, Technological Access, and Equity

  1. If you taught college-level writing in any format (in-person, hybrid, and/or online) prior to spring 2020, what is your perception of how students’ engagement in your course(s) changed (or didn’t) while teaching online in academic year 2020-2021 and/or so far in 2021-2022?

  2. In your online or hybrid teaching in 2020-2021 and/or 2021-2022, did you or your students experience any issues related to technological access or technological inequity that impacted teaching, learning, and/or engagement?
    • Yes
    • No
  3. If you answered yes to the previous question, please list or describe any issue(s) related to technological access or inequity that impacted teaching/learning in your course(s) (open-ended question):

  4. Do you have any additional comments you would like to offer regarding your experience teaching writing in any modality during the pandemic (open-ended question)?
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