Factors affecting faculty perceptions of technologically mediated instruction: Competency, value, and educational technology support

NACTA Journal, Dec 2002 by Lindner, James R, Murphy, Tim H, Dooley, Kim E

Abstract

A survey of all teaching faculty members in the college of agriculture at a land grant university was conducted to describe their perceptions regarding their competence in using distance education technologies, the value they place on using distance education technology in teaching, and the level of information technology and support they believe exists in the college. Faculty members lacked confidence in their ability to use technology in their teaching, they perceived that technology is a valuable addition to the teaching and learning environment, and they believed the overall level of support for the use of technology in teaching is low. Tenure status and academic rank/position for tenure-track faculty were inversely related to overall distance education scores. Non-tenured Assistant Professors had the highest overall distance education scores and the highest competency scores.

Introduction

Models of higher education are changing too rapidly for some people, and not rapidly enough for others. In 1998, according to an Association of University Technology Managers survey, 132 universities collected $576 million from patent royalties. Columbia University is one of many wellknown institutions planning to move beyond the traditional nonprofit models and aggressively market the expertise of its faculty on a new for-profit website. Profits from knowledge on the new website will be split according to a formula between the school, the professor, and the professor's department. Most institutions already have these arrangements for profits from patents already, but no such arrangements existed for profits from teaching. Some faculty members worry that universities adopting teachingfor-profit models will provide additional support for profitable professors while detracting from those whose courses are less popular. Ann Kirschner, head of the Columbia University website project, said that Columbia would never do something to compromise the integrity of the school (Hayden, 2000).

Universities are and will remain a collection of faculty members. If, in fact, universities are to effectively implement new models of delivering instruction, then they will first convince faculty members to adopt them. This study investigates the factors affecting the adoption of the electronic technologies used to deliver instruction.

Theoretical Framework

Research in the field of distance education has recognized the need for a change and modification of the faculty role in teaching at a distance (Wedemeyer, 1981; Beaudoin, 1990; Dillon and Walsh, 1992; Purdy and Wright, 1992). "It is not that the technology underpinning distance education drives the system, but rather that fundamental changes in teaching style, technique, and motivation must take place to make the new 'classrooms' of the present and future function effectively" (Purdy & Wright, 1992, p. 4). Many studies cite faculty resistance to instructional technology as a primary barrier to the continued growth of distance education programs (Gunawardena, 1990; McNeil, 1990). "Attitudinal issueshow people perceive and react to these technologiesare far more important now than structural and technical obstacles in influencing the use of technology in higher education" (McNeil, 1990, p. 2).

Other barriers stem from the lack of perceived institutional support (faculty rewards, incentives, training, etc.) for course conversion to distance education formats (Dillon and Walsh, 1992; McNeil, 1990; Wolcott, 1997; Olcott and Wright, 1995). "The accelerated development of distance education programs across American higher education will require a renewed commitment to its most important resource .... faculty" (Olcott and Wright, 1995, p. 5). Despite the fact that much of the literature in distance education discusses the importance of faculty, this group has been largely neglected by the research (Dillon and Walsh, 1992; Beaudoin, 1990).

In the Dillon and Walsh (1992) meta-analysis of studies examining faculty attitudes toward distance teaching, only one study examined issues of faculty members who did not offer one or more courses via distance education. These researchers wanted to capture the perceptions of the entire teaching faculty of the College of Agriculture regarding the instructional use of the technologies often associated with distance education.

Dooley and Murphy (2000) found that faculty members lacked experience in teaching learners at a distance, and that while not high on either scale, they were much more confident in their technical competence than they were in their methodological/pedagogical ability to use modern technologies in their teaching. These authors further found that faculty perceived training and assistance in the use of instructional technologies to be less available than equipment and facilities. Additionally, faculty members who had not participated in distance education perceived the level of support as lower than those who had taught classes at a distance. The ability of an organization to adapt to these changes is influenced by the following: competence, or the knowledge, skills, and abilities of its staff; value, or the amount of importance the staff places on the role of these technologies to accomplish teaching and learning; information technology support, or the availability of high quality facilities, equipment, technical support, and training (Dooley and Murphy, 2000). Little is known, however, about how these factors affect faculty adoption of distance education.