Researchers conduct an instrumental case study to gain insights about a phenomenon of interest (Creswell & Poth, 2018; Stake, 1995, 2000). In the current study, our phenomenon of interest was CTL websites as a medium for online faculty development. We identified the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning (FCTL) website to study as our typical case. We conducted usability tests and expert evaluations to explore user experiences (Nielsen, 2012). Additionally, we conducted a retrospective analysis of the FCTL website activity using Google Analytics during the data collection period to shed light on (in)consistencies and opportunities for deeper insight of the phenomenon (Patton, 1999). We elaborate on the data collection and case context in subsequent sections.

The FCTL website—that is, the instrumental case—is hosted as a subpage to the main UMB website. UMB is a research-driven university of seven schools: Medicine, Law, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Social Work, and an interdisciplinary Graduate School. In Fall 2021, the university employed 3,123 faculty, 2,637 executives/professionals, and 1,302 support personnel who either taught or supported professional or graduate courses for 6,314 students.

The usability test interviews, expert survey evaluations, and Google Analytics provided several insights into the user experiences of the FCTL website. We found that (1) the home page was critical to information architecture, and the splash page caused confusion; (2) the link texts serve as action items for site visitors, and succinct labeling is paramount to organizational systems hierarchies; and (3) static web pages encouraged self-directed learning. These findings align with previous research (see Moran, 2019a; Nielsen, 2002, 2011; Shea et al., 2002; Sherer et al., 2003; Sherwin, 2015; Whitenton, 2013; Wright, Lohe, & Little, 2018). We elaborate on our findings and lessons learned.

The staff focused their efforts on improving the website’s home page by addressing some of the usability and user experiences concerns identified. First, the default page layout within the T4 WCMS was used for the home page, moving the main navigation from large blue buttons in the center to a table of contents on the left with default fonts to maintain consistency and standards (see Krause, 2021; Loranger, 2017; Nielsen, 2024; Nielsen & Molich, 1990). Second, a photo of the center’s office location with a new tagline, “A partner in pedagogy across all seven schools,” and the center’s mission and background story were added. As a newly formed center, the hope was that these changes would better explain the FCTL purpose to first-time site visitors (see Nielsen, 2002). Third, a contact information box was added at the left of the screen and included a consultation request link. Finally, the FCTL podcast, Moving the Needle, was affixed below the main navigation table of contents and above the contact information box with a text description. In this way, the FCTL was able to feature the most recent podcast episode that links to a permanent episode archive and remains constant throughout users’ navigation (see Nielsen, 2002). Figure 2 details screenshots of the FCTL website before data collection (left) and after data analysis (right). Interestingly, a comparison of Google Analytics activity before and after the improvements showed that, on average, site visitors stayed on the home page around 10 seconds longer, suggesting that engagement with the home page may have increased.

The FCTL also expanded the responsiveness of the website content presented across devices (e.g., desktop, mobile, tablet). Google Analytics revealed that users predominately used desktop computers to access the website, mobile devices were used less frequently, and tablets were rarely used during the data collection period. However, the analytics also revealed that there was a slow trend emerging in the growth of mobile and tablet access. While the T4 WCMS is a responsive and dynamic system, attention to staff-developed content and the responsiveness and accessibility thereof still needed to be considered. Mobile-friendly design was a primary focus of the FCTL website improvements, and this process consisted of reviewing and updating the WYSIWYG editor content and the layout or order of each content block on each page to provide a consistent look and feel across devices. Additionally, each web page was reviewed for compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and updated as appropriate (e.g., adding image alt text, providing audio/video transcription, adjusting color contrast).

Given that CTL websites and online faculty development continue to grow (see Belt & Lowenthal, 2020; Herman, 2012; Kelley et al., 2017), greater attention to this distinct medium of professional development is needed to better understand the influence, scope, and reach of this phenomenon on the academy. Previous research has found that adjunct faculty in particular draw significant support from their institutional websites (Chun et al., 2019). The findings of this case study led us to consider online community formation and formal and informal learning via CTL websites in greater depth.

CTL websites are rarely considered web-based communities as there are no formalized membership systems, there are no ways for users to personalize the interface, and there is seldom opportunity for users to insert their identity other than within a comments section (see Gallant et al., 2007). However, the underpinnings of community formation were present on this CTL website, which aligns with previous research (see Sherer et al., 2003). With some minor modification, CTL websites could serve as a place for faculty to share their identities, chat, and grow as a community. For instance, CTL website designers could expand specific pages to include asynchronous discussion forums or synchronous chat features, specific pages could be transitioned to wikis, or specific pages could require login credentials. Such changes would require greater attention to and facilitation of faculty interactions on CTL websites by CTL staff. Nevertheless, faculty visiting CTL websites may be drawn to certain pages based on common interests that are ripe for community formation, and they may find this medium of professional development more efficient and effective than others.

Faculty perusing CTL websites is an informal professional development activity. As this case has shown, site visitors had to self-direct their learning. However, CTLs are the institutions’ pedagogical powerhouses, and their websites should at least proffer an opportunity for formal professional development as visitors navigate them. In order for a website to become more than static multimedia pages, users need to be able to identify themselves on the site, interact with other users, and receive some form of feedback (i.e., collaborative or evaluative). For example, CTL websites could include a live “chat with an ID” tool to provide just-in-time support, didactic pages could be modified to blogs that invite comments from end users, or attributes of the information architecture could be made adaptive and individualized for every user. CTLs would likely need to establish goals, benchmarks, and creative evaluation metrics to assess the impact of such changes on their website relative to faculty development.

Enabling greater interactivity with CTL websites can expand online faculty development efforts in measurable ways (see Stark & Smith, 2016; Sweet et al., 2017; Yuan et al., 2019). For example, adding social opportunities to what would otherwise be considered a non-social website could increase interactivity (Kim et al., 2010). By enabling user inputs and social features (e.g., online assessments, live chat, blogs, wikis, page ratings, reviews, or crowdsourcing), CTLs can analyze competencies, shortfalls, or topics of interest and expand the ways in which they support the faculty of their home institutions. CTLs can also track the number of consultations initiated through the website, the number and nature of live chat support instances, and online assessment results. Furthermore, CTLs can glean insights from Google Analytics or similar software tools about user interactivity to drive professional development. For instance, highly rated content might indicate interest or signal a professional development need, or most visited pages might signal a need for a more formal learning community.

Given the evolving landscape of higher education that is expanding with more flexible and remote working arrangements (see Smyth et al., 2021), websites have increasingly become more vital to the communication and information exchange taking place between faculty and their home institutions (Almahamid et al., 2016; Chun et al., 2019). As such, we present a framework for CTL websites as online faculty development (see Figure 2).

It is our contention that certain CTL website features (e.g., blogs, wikis, ratings, live chat) may enable faculty to engage with online faculty development in systematic ways that involve two-way interaction, although there is no guarantee that they will engage (Lowenthal, 2008; Lowenthal et al., 2013). Figure 3 portrays how CTL website pages, content, and features can produce measurable responses (e.g., quiz results, chat transcripts, user ratings, page reviews) that can distinguish CTL websites as a medium for online faculty development. For instance, faculty might be afforded the opportunity to create a profile with login credentials, chat in real-time with a CTL staff member, or rate pages. They might also create pages of their own, form or join community subpages, contribute comments to an ongoing discussion, or provide content reviews. As faculty interact with CTL content, the website could track and adapt to their input. After answering true/false or multiple-choice questions, for example, faculty could be directed to different pages or be awarded certificates based on their responses. In this schema, scaffolding, support, and faculty contribution are intentional and may help guide faculty in their learning and development.

In Table 1, our framework posits that the following five aspects and key components are essential to CTL websites as a medium for online faculty development. By emphasizing accessibility, content, engagement, evaluation, and sustainability (ACEES) in the design and development process, CTL websites can function as a distinct form of online faculty development. Given the changing workforce dynamics in higher education, and a continued reliance on communication technologies for teaching and learning, further research on CTL websites as a burgeoning medium for online faculty development is needed. As such, we invite empirical investigations of the ACEES framework in different contexts and studies.

Future studies should explore the impact, efficacy, and influence of CTL websites as online faculty development. Currently, web analytics are commonly used to measure the impact of a website (e.g., page visits, frequency, length of stay, source acquisitions). However, many quantitative and qualitative questions of how and why site visitors interact with CTL websites are still looming. With the wealth of information openly available across all CTL websites, do faculty prefer using their own institutions’ CTL websites? Does the presentation of information on a CTL website influence credibility? How do faculty use CTL websites to improve their teaching practices? Do faculty prefer CTL websites over other forms of professional development? What impact do CTL websites have on faculty teaching, student learning outcomes, and/or professional development? Different theories might provide insights into phenomena such as self-directed learning (Tough, 1966), adult learning theory (Knowles, 1970), connectivism (Siemens, 2005), planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), or the cognitive theory of multimedia learning (Mayer, 1997).

The findings of this study cannot be generalized to all CTL websites. Readers will have to manage this limitation to assess the credibility, triangulation, and transferability of the findings in their own individual contexts as suggested by Lincoln and Guba (1985). Faculty who volunteered to participate in the usability tests and evaluation survey may have been more familiar with the CTL website than was initially communicated, they may have censored their comments and feedback, and the expertise of evaluators was self-identified. Furthermore, the purposive sampling procedures discussed in the first two data collection phases were adopted within the case and bound by time, space, and activity. Larger sample sizes in these phases may have yielded different results, although the small sample size is common to qualitative research and usability testing (see Nielsen, 2012; Schoch, 2020), and the data collected were intended to shed light on the phenomenon of CTL websites as a medium for online faculty development.

In higher education it is common for one activity to have multiple interpretations (e.g., online learning, online teaching) or similar constructs to have multiple terms (e.g., heutagogy, self-determined learning) that make labeling and categorization daunting. Moreover, how users come to know educational terminology is often based on previous exposures that influence their navigational experiences, making universal ideals of simple and intuitive use quite complicated and counterintuitive. However, the hierarchical organization of content categories established by the FCTL (i.e., About, Programs, Services, Resources, and Events) were short link texts and an information architecture that appeared to support user experiences and site navigation.

CTL website designers might consider the five topic-based categories presented in this case as an essential top level in their organizational hierarchy to promote external consistency across the field. Still, subgrouping categories would remain a challenge. The FCTL found that environmental scanning combined with adhering to a continuum of consistency (see Krause, 2021) and generating link texts that were specific, sincere, substantial, and succinct (see Moran, 2019a) helped guide the information architecture and supported user experiences.

Designers might also consider collaborating with their marketing and communication departments if interested in developing a distinct splash page and to determine whether branching away from an institutional brand (i.e., headers, footers, consistency) is warranted given the potential usability risks and the scope of the CTL (see Krause, 2021). It may be tempting to want to “make a splash” as was the intent in this case, but the challenges splash screens present are difficult to overcome from a usability perspective, given the fact that users spend most of their time on other sites (Nielsen, 2000, 2011).

Google Analytics data are perhaps best aligned with the purpose and goals of a CTL website. For instance, tracking the average session duration, average time on page, and/or pages per session might give an indication of engagement. If the goal is to have visitors stay on certain pages longer than others, then these pages could be tracked or benchmarks created. Nevertheless, the longer time spent on subpages is likely ideal. Short visits on the home page might suggest that users are able to navigate the information architecture efficiently, combined with prolonged engagement on subpages (e.g., specific resources, specific programs, specific team members, specific services). In this case, the most popular pages were two specific subpages from the Resources category that described problem-based learning and creating a rubric in detail; these pages included substantial text, several images, a few videos, and a number of references.

At times, website maintenance at higher education institutions may be of low priority and importance (Susanto et al., 2019). Web pages are subject to abandonment with staff turnover, strategic planning changes, or departmental shifting of roles and responsibilities. The fluidity of such change is rarely reflected in institutional web pages, resulting in dated, inaccessible, or inaccurate information being displayed. While some content may remain static over time (e.g., institutional mission statements), most content changes. Whether by design or happenstance, static web pages on CTL websites are not truly responsive to users’ needs, they run the risk of becoming outdated, and there are missed opportunities for CTL staff and site visitors to interact.

CTL website designers should continue to develop evidence-based, openly available educational resources that perpetuate the informal interactivity occurring between faculty and faculty developers across the academy. Information sharing is the essence of CTLs, and their websites should funnel users efficiently to their desired aims. This study also led us to consider the need for CTL websites to infuse diversity, equity, and inclusion into the design of the website to achieve a more culturally focused information architecture (see Fiorito, 2014). In other words, particular care and attention should be taken in the design process of CTL websites to develop culturally sensitive, diverse, and equitable resources as more than just static pages or bulleted lists of references.

User interaction with CTL websites is a form of professional development that affords any time, any place learning. Such forms of online professional development that are not limited by time or physical space are growing at educational institutions (Belt & Lowenthal, 2020), and greater attention to this unique medium of professional development is needed. This study is a small contribution to that end and invites further exploration of the lessons learned and the framework presented in various contexts. The CTL website is a prominent touchpoint between faculty and faculty developers. As such, CTLs should consider emergent ways in which site visitor interactions could be enhanced and user experiences improved.