Theoretical models are often developed through a top-down approach, omitting the practice-based considerations that could change the formulation of the model (26). This study demonstrates the convergence of a theoretical and process model with the triangulation of theoretical, expert and end-user data in determining the usability and feasibility of a model. The varied experience and expertise across disciplines, within and across countries, support the finding of the feasibility of the model within this convergence of evidence. With a combined average of 16 years of experience in HPE, the authors contend that the participants’ responses are supported by their experience within their roles and scholarly efforts to develop their skills in HPE faculty development (14). Furthermore, these participants' experience within higher education ensures their understanding of their own context, whether on the ground level or in management positions, thus providing contextual reference points for them in engaging with the model.
Online faculty development for HPE requires evidence to ensure sustainability and efficacy to support the development of skills in research, teaching, leadership and administration (1, 3, 5). However, the current literature highlights the lack of contextualised approaches to this practice, particularly in low and middle-income countries (6). The context in the development of online learning opportunities matters (11, 14, 15, 34), and by extension, in the development of online faculty development courses. The literature currently presents evidence for the design of faculty development courses from predominantly high-income country funded courses (5, 6). More specifically, the literature presents the experience of the recipients of these courses from the perspective of a foreign or external stakeholder, that is, a foreign gaze (4). Often, this gaze is further removed from the recipients as it is the gaze of the funder or provider of the course (35, 36). By presenting a user-friendly and feasible model for sub-Saharan Africa, the authors contribute to the discourse on the evidence for the design and development of online faculty development courses for health professions educators.
Adaptation of standard heuristics for suitability to a specific discipline is encouraged within the field of e-learning (27) and, to our knowledge, has not been adopted within the field of model development in faculty development or online faculty development. Therefore, the authors have presented a novel approach that could be included in the development of faculty development models, not just as a design-based research methodology (21), but for the scholarly advancement of faculty development. Through the positive findings of this study and the resultant model, the goal of the heuristic evaluation was achieved (37). That is a usable and adaptable model within the intended context of HPE in sub-Saharan Africa (22, 23, 37, 38).
The model's policy and structural features had the highest number of identified problems. This outcome resonates with previous research on the feasibility of educational models for online learning (1, 11, 39, 40). Surprisingly, the identified problems were related to the semantics or combination of the guiding questions, as opposed to the constructs as would have been expected in a traditional heuristic evaluation (23). The authors propose that this outcome is indicative of the rigour with which the model and heuristics had been developed, thus meeting the need for a model that is usable by the participants, albeit with minor adaptations. Furthermore, the absence of outright changes to the presented model demonstrates the internal validity of the expert input during the preceding phase of this research (26). This alignment between experts and end-users, while not unprecedented, demonstrates a unique occurrence in heuristic evaluation (38).
Regarding the systems and tools, the participants highlighted issues related to systemic or institutional responsibilities for infrastructure and embedded organisational practice in the form of committees and high-level support. This again raises the issue of limited local resources available to create these supportive resources and systems in sub-Saharan Africa (1, 5, 9, 14). Regarding technology, the model and heuristics presented initially referred to open-source software. However, the participants' contributions echoed that of international research in that open-source software is not a requirement if user-friendly, engaging software options are available within the organisation presenting the course (1, 6, 41, 42). The assertion of this critical systemic support by participants should be noted by administrators and leaders of institutions in strategic planning and support. Ensuring that systems and support structures are in place should be read as a non-negotiable within this model for online HPE faculty development courses in sub-Saharan Africa.
Online HPE faculty development courses in sub-Saharan Africa should include case studies, discussion-based activities, and the submission of a portfolio of evidence. Though not specific regarding content within the model, these course activities do require that facilitators are competent in either the process of online learning or the subject matter. Including this component in the presented model aligns with the findings from the literature that a combination or variation of facilitator competencies is required in online faculty development courses (1, 6, 35, 43, 44). As such, activities prepared by these facilitators should remain focused and aligned with the outcomes set during the development of a course. The focus could be related to professional growth and innovation in teaching, management, leadership or research skills (11, 40, 45).
The characteristics of facilitators and course participants yielded the highest number of identified problems. This was dominated by identifying a required semantic change, eliminating the separation of clinical and health professions educators within the heuristic. More importantly, the problems identified across the panel for this construct were related to the need for well-trained facilitators, process experts, health professions educators, and disciplinary experts. While appearing to be problem identification, this finding supports the model as it is developed based on the components within the Community of Inquiry (25). The teaching presence facilitated by these trained facilitators ensures targeted and engaged learning (46), mainly when constructive feedback is provided through discursive practice prioritisation (6).
Online HPE faculty development studies have focused on participant experience and organisational expectations for the outcome of courses (1). However, in this study, participants did not focus on the recipients of an online faculty development course; instead, the focus was on facilitator roles and supportive structures. Again, this finding speaks to the importance of teaching presence as an influential factor in the effective delivery of online learning environments for faculty development. Therefore, these online courses should focus on the structure and process of an educational experience and setting the climate through an overlap of the teaching and social presence (46–49) in the facilitators’ role of creating a community of practice.
There were no disagreements on the feasibility of the model across seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa and six professional disciplines. While the question may be raised as to whether the lack of country diversity in the presence of regional diversity plays a role, we contend, as do others (50), that individual country differences will be minimal within the sub-Saharan African region. Additionally, the volunteer nature of participants whose experience in an HPE fellowship could influence their responses could contribute to this level of agreement. This should, however, be further investigated through the application of the model to a specific course within a particular country. Additional feasibility testing using a granular approach across larger representative samples should investigate the model on specific courses in specific countries in SSA. It would be prudent to highlight the local gaze within the recommended research concerning funding, policy, and other institutional structures (1,40,51).
While the novel collection of this data contributes to future practice, the authors recognise the limitation of a small number of participants, predominantly situated in anglophone Southern Africa, as a threat to usability across sub-Saharan Africa. Nevertheless, the nature of the findings, limited variance in inter-rater agreement, and the preceding phases of this study; demonstrate the scholarly approach taken using a representative sample of the population.