Faculty satisfaction in the online environment: An institutional study

doi:10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.05.001

The Internet and Higher Education

Volume 12, Issues 3–4, December 2009, Pages 173-178

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iheduc.2009.05.001 Get rights and content

Abstract

A study of online faculty satisfaction was conducted at a public research university in the United States. Overall level of online faculty satisfaction at the institution, major concerns and motivating factors associated with online faculty satisfaction, and the differences between more and less satisfied online instructors were identified. One hundred two online instructors responded to the online faculty satisfaction survey. Results indicate a moderately positive level of faculty satisfaction with online teaching. Major frustrations were associated with technological difficulties, the lack of face-to-face contact, and student involvement. Satisfying elements pertained to flexibility, access, and student diversity. More satisfied online instructors reported a higher degree of student-to-instructor interaction than their less satisfied counterparts. The classification analysis resulted in 88.5% of online instructors being correctly classified.

Introduction

Online education is the fastest growing form of delivery in higher education in the United States (U.S.). During fall 2006 approximately 20% of all students in higher education in the U.S. were enrolled in at least one course delivered online. In fall 2006, student enrollment in online courses increased nearly 10% as compared to fall 2005 (Allen & Seaman, 2007).

Higher education institutions list several reasons for offering online courses such as improved student access, increased rates of degree completion, and appeal of online education to nontraditional students. In contrast, institutions indicate barriers to the adoption of online courses that include the need for more discipline on the part of the online students, the lack of faculty acceptance of online delivery methods for instruction, low retention rates in online courses, and higher costs associated with the development and delivery of online courses (Allen & Seaman, 2007).

Faculty satisfaction is an important factor influencing the overall success of online educational programs. Student motivation with and performance in online courses can be directly affected by levels of faculty satisfaction (Hartman, Dziuban, & Moskal, 2000). Many instructors enjoy teaching in the online environment because of reasons they perceive as beneficial to them and their students. However, there is still a large group of faculty who find online teaching less attractive than traditional face-to-face instruction because of factors that impact them negatively (Hislop & Atwood, 2000).

Section snippets

Literature review

Online learning has proven to be a successful delivery method for many institutions in higher education. Fredericksen, Pickett, Shea, Pelz, and Swan (2000) and Navarro (2000) report high levels of faculty satisfaction with online courses. Hislop (2000) and MacGregor (2001) compared student performance in online and campus-based environments and found similar student levels of achievement. Schutte (1996) found students in a virtual course scored on average 20% higher than students in the

Data collection

The study was conducted at a U.S. land-grant university with an annual enrollment of approximately 11,600 students. The population consisted of online instructors who taught at least one online course during fall 2007 or spring 2008; the response rate was 83.6%. The majority of respondents was female (59.8%), and participants' ages ranged from 24 to 69 years (M = 50). Their online teaching experience ranged from 0 to 20 years (M = 4.67). Ninety-seven percent were native English speakers.

Individuals

Descriptive statistics

The overall level of faculty satisfaction at the institution was moderately positive (M = 0.64) on a scale from − 2 to + 2. Over 90% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with eight of the 28 questions on the OFSS. They valued flexible access to courses for students (99.0%) and faculty (97.1%). They felt students were actively involved in learning (95.1%). Participants overwhelmingly agreed that it is important to them to have flexibility as a faculty member (94.0%) and to reach underserved

Overall levels of satisfaction

The vast majority of instructors (93.1%) indicated that they looked forward to teaching another online course even though the data clearly indicates that instructors were only moderately satisfied with online teaching at this institution. These results are somewhat puzzling and warrant further investigation as to why online faculty are eager to teach additional online courses at the university.

It is interesting and noteworthy that 38.2% of faculty who responded to the questionnaire were more

Limitations

Some limitations to the research study need to be mentioned. First, the study relied on self-reported data, thus producing subjective information. Second, study participants were recruited from a single university located in a rural area. Third, instructors at the institution utilized only one course management system in their courses. Therefore, the sampling procedure was restricted to one geographical region and included a relatively small institution. As a result of these limitations, the

Conclusion

Today, online course delivery is a prevailing type of education (Belar, 2006). The number of online course offerings has grown exponentially and will continue to rise. Distance education has been responsible for a paradigm shift in higher education, and effectiveness of distance education is one of the most popular directions of research in the field of distance learning (Moore & Kearsley, 2005).

Faculty satisfaction continues to be an important element in higher education because it can be

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View full text

Faculty satisfaction in the online environment: An institutional study

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Literature review

Data collection

Descriptive statistics

Overall levels of satisfaction

Limitations

Conclusion

The Internet and Higher Education

Online nation: Five years of growth in online learning. Needham, MA: Sloan-C

Instructor satisfaction in University of California Extension's on-line writing curriculum

Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks

Instructor attitudes within the SCALE efficiency projects

Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks

Lock Haven University: Lock Haven, PA

The superiority of online discussion: Faculty perceptions

The Quarterly Review of Distance Education

Distance education is here

Monitor on Psychology

Discussion-based online teaching to enhance student learning

An institutional overview: Factors influencing faculty participation in distance education in postsecondary education in the United States: An institutional study

Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration

Factors influencing faculty satisfaction with online teaching and learning in higher education

Distance Education

Distance education: Facing the faculty challenge

Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration

Washington, DC: National Education Association

Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches

Needham, MA: Sloan-C Wiki

Factors influencing faculty satisfaction with asynchronous teaching and learning in the SUNY learning network

Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks

Faculty satisfaction in ALNs: A dependent or independent variable?

Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks

Working professionals as part-time on-line learners

Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks