Assessing Faculty Attitudes towards Online Instruction: A Motivational Approach
There continues to be a lack of congruence in the attitudes of faculty and administrators with respect to online or distance education. The authors developed and administered a questionnaire to assess pertinent attitudes and perceptions of full and part-time faculty (n= 421) toward online instruction at their private university in a U.S. Middle Atlantic State. Responses to thirty-five items were subjected to exploratory factor analysis with four factors emerging labeled as technical resources, self-efficacy, strategic alignment, and contextual suitability. Differences were found based on a number of demographic variables including experience with online instruction, being part-time, working in a professional school, gender, and years teaching. Relationships among factors are also explored and practical implications discussed.
