The role of motivation, ability, and opportunity in university teachers’ continuance use intention for flipped teaching
Introduction
Digital technologies have spread rapidly worldwide, and flipped teaching has emerged as an innovative teaching and learning method for higher education institutions (Steed, 2012). This method has created a virtual space for the provision of online video lessons while also encouraging students to actively participate in the lessons (Fidalgo-Blanco, Martinez-Nuñez, Borrás-Gene, & Sanchez-Medina, 2017). Accordingly, the practical sites used for teaching have changed. The traditional teaching method, which has typically focused on teaching theories and practices, has been transformed into a flipped classroom technique in which student-centered teaching has become paramount (Calimeris & Sauer, 2015; Hao, 2016; Lai & Hwang, 2016; Sohrabi & Iraj, 2016). A flipped classroom constitutes a reversal of traditional teaching. Students are first exposed to new material outside class, usually via reading or video lessons prepared by the teachers; class time is then devoted to the harder task of assimilating the new material through strategies, such as collaborative discussions, peer interaction sessions, problem-solving exercises, in-depth experiments, or simulations (Calimeris & Sauer, 2015; Hao, 2016).
Flipped classrooms are also referred to as flipped teaching or flipped learning, but the terms denote the same novel instructional strategy (Fidalgo-Blanco et al., 2017). In this study, we use the term flipped teaching to emphasize teachers’ teaching strategies, of which the core concept is active learning (Calimeris & Sauer, 2015; Reyna, 2015). This innovative concept was proposed neither by a theoretical curriculum nor by teaching experts, but instead by two senior high school chemistry teachers. Flipped teaching has three advantages: First, it allows students who learn slowly to review lessons repeatedly in the classroom in order to meet the requirements; thus, such students become more willing to read teaching materials than under the traditional teaching method (Hung, 2015). Second, interactions between teachers and students in the classroom become more frequent; consequently, students have more opportunities to develop higher-order thinking (Hung, 2015; Kim, Kim, Khera, & Getman, 2014; Lai & Hwang, 2016). Third, teaching materials are easier to save, manage, and transfer, allowing teachers to reflect on the whole course design and thus, improve the course content (Hwang, Lai, & Wang, 2015). The digital video environment of flipped teaching is more convenient and provides more accessible content resources for learning (Hao & Lee, 2016; Hao, 2016). Last, the environment has the capacity to facilitate the development of new teaching strategies in educational innovation.
Flipped teaching, however, is not without difficulties for teachers. First, it dramatically changes the practical operation of teaching activities and teachers' instructional patterns. Accordingly, teachers must devote substantial time to implement flipped teaching. Extra time is needed, for instance, to develop video lessons in addition to more careful planning and preparation (Reyna, 2015; Wanner & Palmer, 2015). Unfortunately, many teachers are too busy to take on extra work (Wanner & Palmer, 2015). Second, each teacher has his or her own teaching style and preferences. Some teachers prefer teacher-directed practices, while others prefer student-to-student collaboration and problem solving. These preferences can influence a teacher's style and efficiency, which, in turn, can influence students' learning efficiency (Frunză, 2014). Flipped teaching not only includes video lessons in the teaching curriculum but also, and more importantly, incorporates effective classroom interaction with students (Sams & Bergmann, 2013). Teachers may not be familiar with this flipped teaching model. Third, the implementation of flipped teaching may not receive full support from schools (Hao & Lee, 2016; Wanner & Palmer, 2015).
The benefits of flipped teaching for students have been questioned by many teachers, along three lines. First, students may be accustomed to passive learning. Traditional classrooms do not incorporate active previews, and thus, the flipped teaching strategy could fail if students do not watch or refuse to watch the video lessons in advance (Chen, Wang, Kinshuk, & Chen, 2014; Hao & Lee, 2016; Hao, 2016; Lai & Hwang, 2016). Second, it may be very difficult for students to adequately prepare for each course if all courses use the flipped teaching method (Hao, 2016; Wanner & Palmer, 2015). Third, some students may not have the digital skills needed to manage a technology-integrated environment (Hao & Lee, 2016).
At present, educational institutions are diligently working to promote the flipped teaching method and reward teachers who implement flipped teaching strategies. That said, relevant research in this area is lacking in two respects: First, previous research related to flipped teaching paid too much attention to the use of quasi-experimental and interview methods to understand how to implement flipped teaching, practically apply the relevant tools, and gauge students' satisfaction and learning performance. Although media reports, Google searches, and campus seminars demonstrate the frequency with which discussions on flipped teaching occur, research on teachers' behaviors in flipped teaching programs from a theoretical perspective is lacking. Therefore, this study attempts to understand the empirical results of this innovative teaching strategy to verify the practical and theoretical expectations. Second, although teachers play an important role in promoting flipped teaching, the relevant factors that affect teachers' behaviors in conducting flipped teaching have rarely been discussed. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis must be performed to gain an in-depth understanding of teachers’ continuance use intention for flipped teaching.
Accordingly, this study constructed a predictive model of teachers' continuance use intention for flipped teaching derived from self-determination theory (SDT) and motivation-opportunity-ability (MOA). The motivations for teachers' continuance use intention for flipped teaching were examined in three dimensions: individual motivation, external environment, and individual ability. Individual motivation can be either extrinsic or intrinsic, and each type might lead to very different behaviors (Ryan & Deci, 2000). Intrinsic motivation refers to stable personality traits, including challenge motivation, whereas extrinsic motivation includes compensation motivation (Amabile, Hill, Hennessey, & Tighe, 1994). Here, the external environment comprises flipped teaching resources. Last, individual ability in this study constitutes teachers’ perceived self-efficacy. With these foci in mind, the following research questions were addressed. RQ1 To what extent do motivational factors (i.e., challenge and compensation) affect teachers' continuance use intention for flipped teaching? RQ2 How do ability factors (i.e., teachers' perceived self-efficacy) operate in conjunction with motivational factors to influence teachers' continuance use intention for flipped teaching? RQ3 How do opportunity factors (i.e., supportive flipped teaching resources) operate in conjunction with motivational factors and perceived self-efficacy to influence teachers' continuance use intention for flipped teaching?
Section snippets
Flipped teaching and massive online open courses (MOOCs)
Massive online open courses (MOOCs) have been used to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning. Moreover, MOOCs have global influence, allowing students of different ages, nationalities, backgrounds, abilities, and interests to participate. Such courses and their materials have become an effective teaching method; thus, many teachers have implemented MOOCs in flipped teaching (Brahimi & Sarirete, 2015). As shown in Table 1, previous studies mainly focused on students' learning
Research model
Based on the SDT and MOA theories, a research model was constructed that explored the direct effects and interactions of individual motivation, personal ability, and external opportunities. The proposed model for predicting teachers’ continuance use intention for flipped teaching is shown in Fig. 1.
Challenge motivation
As adopted from SDT, challenge was examined as an intrinsic motivation. In this study, challenge was defined as the extent to which teachers preferred to seek out complex, difficult tasks (Amabile et
Data collection and participants
This study focused on university teachers who had experience with flipped teaching. Purposive sampling, which is inexpensive, convenient, and less time-consuming than other sampling strategies, was used to obtain a representative sample. In addition, purposive sampling results present a good probability sampling (Smith & Albaum, 2012). First, participants were selected from scholars highlighted in magazine articles, YouTube, and workshop speakers. Second, Google Scholar was used to find
Reliability and validity
The constructs were assessed for reliability and validity. Internal consistency for all constructs was investigated using Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability. Table 6 shows that the Cronbach's alpha for each construct ranged from 0.881 to 0.960, all well exceeding the cutoff value of 0.70 (Nunnally, 1978). The composite reliability for each construct ranged from 0.888 to 0.962, also well above the cutoff value of 0.70 (Fornell & Larcker, 1981).
Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was
Key findings
The key findings of this study are fivefold. First, the findings indicate that intrinsic challenge motivates teachers’ continuance use intention for flipped teaching. The flipped teaching context increases the challenges faced by teachers, as their efforts must increase before, during, and even after class. It is possible that teachers are intrinsically motivated, such as via challenge motivation, and are consequently willing to continue flipped teaching spontaneously.
Second, the results are
Conclusion
Successful flipped teaching requires teachers and students to actively participate. To better understand the interplay among motivation, ability, and opportunity, as well as teachers' continuance use intention for flipped teaching, this study employed SDT and MOA theory to identify motivation, ability, and opportunity factors to predict teachers' teaching continuance intention. Student readiness was included as a control variable. This study contributes to theory and practice in three ways.
Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge that the research is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan under grants MOST 106-2511-S-270-001-MY2.
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