Motivating and inhibiting factors that affect faculty participation in distance education at Idaho State University.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The purpose of this study was to identify the motivating and inhibiting factors that affected faculty participation in distance education at Idaho State University. The population for this survey was the entire teaching faculty (N = 628) from all colleges and departments of Idaho State University. Of the 628 surveys sent to faculty, a total of 247 usable responses were received, representing a return rate of 39.33%.
A series of ANOVAs determined whether or not the various groups differed in motivating and inhibiting factors. The Scheffe post-hoc test was used as a follow-up test to ANOVA to determine which means were significantly different. Two open-ended response items provided a forum for participants to describe motivating and inhibiting factors other than those listed in the survey questionnaire. The constant comparison method was used to analyze the written comments of respondents.
The primary findings on motivating factors of this research showed that faculty members at Idaho State University were motivated to teach in distance education more by intrinsic rather than extrinsic reasons, but their motivation could be increased even more when university and administrative supervisors furnished institutional support to meet their instructional needs. The statistical results revealed that faculty members who were much more likely to be motivated to participate in distance education had one of the following characteristics: female, under the instructional contract status, instructors, assistant professors, associate professors, from the College of Health Professions, with a distance-learning experience, with an overall positive opinion regarding distance education, and willing to teach distance courses in the future. The major findings on inhibiting factors of this research showed that the greatest challenges for faculty members to participate in distance education were related to the reduced levels of interaction with students, heavier workload, time commitment, and the ability to maintain course quality. The statistical results revealed that faculty members who were much more likely to be inhibited to participate in distance education had one of the following characteristics: without any distance teaching experience, without an overall positive opinion regarding distance education, and unwilling to teach distance courses in the future.