Sample Interview Questions for Online Instructors
This list is designed to give you an exhaustive list of categories and questions to be adapted to meet your needs. Please feel free to cherry-pick which questions are appropriate for your interview needs.
1. What attracted you to this position?
2. What teaching experiences have you had?
- Where these courses face-to-face or online or blended?
- What course did you teach?
- Did you help develop the course materials?
- In what format were the lessons?
- How would you describe your teaching style? What would you do if that style didn’t seem to be working with a given group of students?
- What did you like most about these experiences? Least?
- How would your students describe you as a teacher?
3. How would you describe your comfort level with technology?
- Are you comfortable with using a computer for things like word processing, e-mail, and navigating the Web?
- Have you ever used a learning management system like Blackboard, Moodle, or ANGEL? What was that experience like for you?
- How do you troubleshoot technology problems?
4. At Penn State, the students in our online courses are often a blend of traditional-age and adult learners.
- What do you consider the unique learning needs each of these populations?
- How would you provide an educational experience that would be appropriate for both?
5. Effective classroom management is an essential skill for all teachers.
- What skills, methods, and strategies might you use to manage your online class?
- How would you promote and encourage a learning environment that is safe, inviting, and mutually respectful?
- How would you mediate conflicts between students?
- How would you handle an angry student?
6. Online learners are typically separated by time and geographic proximity. Their interactions with their instructor and their peers are primarily asynchronous in nature. Everyone’s participation is important to make learning in this environment successful! To facilitate an online class, you will need to actively participate on a regular basis, typically at least once a day, 5 to 7 days a week.
- What strategies do you use to manage your time that might help you in this environment?
- What types of techniques would you use to get students to participate?
- How would you promote active, frequent interaction among all members of the class?
- How might you encourage sensitivity to disabilities and diversities among students from different cultures and abilities?
- How will you balance the requirements of this position with your personal and professional life?
- If you taught an online course, how did you establish a presence in the course?
7. Monitoring student progress toward course learning goals is an important role for any teacher.
- How would you keep track of each student in your class, monitoring their progress toward course goals and providing them with necessary mediation and direction?
- How would you motivate your students?
- What kinds of assignments and assessments do you think would work best when helping students learn your discipline online?
- How did you assess students in your prior teaching experiences?
- What kind of feedback did you provide?
8. Clear communication is key to successful teaching online.
- What are some examples of negative incidents you have encountered involving unclear or miscommunication? What did you do (or wish you had done) to rectify the situation?
- What is your preferred way of communicating online? What makes that work best for you? What are some challenges you’ve encountered with online communication?