Faculty Perceptions Regarding Developmental Education: A Phenomenological Study

In this study, a transcendental phenomenological approach was used to explore faculty members’ experiences with and perceptions of developmental education. This study was conducted at a small, open-access university in the Midwest and included the experiences and perspectives of faculty who teach developmental education courses, as well as those who teach non-developmental education courses at this university. Five non-developmental education faculty and four developmental education faculty were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed and a phenomenological reduction approach was used to analyze the data. Results from the analysis process were used to write a textural description of the non-developmental education and developmental education faculty’s experiences with developmental education. Faculty perceptions and experiences were compared to see if both faculty groups had a shared experience with developmental education.