Dissertation Participant Optional Recruitment
My name is Gary Lopatynski. I am an instructional designer and doctoral candidate at California Baptist University. As a fellow instructional designer, I would greatly value your perspective.
For my doctoral dissertation, I am examining how higher education instructional designers describe their professional experiences in the post-pandemic environment, particularly in relation to changes in workload, faculty collaboration, technology use, organizational culture, remote or hybrid work contexts, and other factors affecting designers not previously considered. This study compares designers’ experiences before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic to better understand how instructional design work has evolved and how designers have adapted to these changes.
Participation in this study is voluntary. To participate, individuals must have worked as higher education instructional designers prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, throughout the pandemic period, and continue working as instructional designers post-pandemic. At bare minimum, designers must have worked in the field since 2019 before the pandemic began. This ensures participants have enough comparative experience across all time periods. Participants who currently work in hybrid or fully remote settings are especially encouraged to participate, though not all participants are required to work remotely.
Participation will involve one-on-one interviews with me and conducted via Zoom. With your permission, the interview will be recorded for transcription and analysis purposes. During the interview, you will be identified only by a participant number to preserve anonymity. No identifying information will be included in the research findings. Interview recordings and transcripts will be stored securely on the researcher’s local computer and backed up on a physical flash drive. All cloud-based recordings and metadata will be deleted following download. Follow-up and clarifying questions will be given to elaborate or clarify data points. In addition, I will be writing memos of personal interpretations as the interview continues. You will also be asked to verify if my memos align with your perspectives to reduce bias and maximize clarity of studied data. In the event of discomfort during an interview, all participants have the right to take a break, skip a question, or if necessary, withdraw from the interview altogether with no penalty. Upon which participants are encouraged to seek referrals to their institutions through the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), counseling services, human resources, or a local licensed provider. If necessary, they may also utilize the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
If you are interested in participating, please contact me via email at glopatynski@calbaptist.edu to schedule an interview. To protect anonymity, please avoid scheduling interviews through public or professional platforms such as Slack. Email communication is preferred, as messages can be deleted after scheduling to preserve confidentiality.
Thank you for your time and consideration.