Abstract
Background: As higher education has traditionally been a face-to-face learning experience, the transition to online teaching due to COVID-19 safety measures may be stressful as instructors navigate new teaching modalities. Self-efficacy toward online teaching may affect an instructor’s stress level. Understanding faculty members’ perceptions of their ability to teach in a non-traditional format may help guide faculty to develop competency in teaching via an online platform.
Objective: To assess faculty members' self-reported stress level and self-efficacy regarding teaching using an online learning platform after the transition from an in-person format due to COVID-19 social distancing restrictions.
Methods: Data were collected from teaching faculty at Nova Southeastern University, Florida between January-March 2021 using an online questionnaire that contained items on personal characteristics, online teaching self-efficacy, and self-reported stress. Participants were asked about their experience with online teaching related to self-efficacy and ability to adjust using a 10-point Likert-type scale, with higher scores indicating greater self-efficacy and adjustment to online teaching. Other items regarding mood unrelated to teaching (e.g., depression, stress, personal issues) were also included. Descriptive statistics and Spearman rank correlation analyses were conducted. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.26.
Results: Seventy-three participants teaching at the undergraduate, graduate, and/or professional (e.g., medical) levels completed the survey. Most participants (n =51; 69.9%) taught more than 7 classes since April 2020 (the onset of COVID-19-prompted transitions to teaching online); 16.4% (n=12) taught 4-7 classes and 13.7% (n=10) taught no more than 3 classes. Weak but statistically significant positive correlations were found between scores on the item “In the last month, how often have you felt difficulties were piling up so high that you could not overcome them?” and scores on self-efficacy items “How well can you respond to difficult questions from online students?” (r = .269, p < .05), “How well can you structure an online course that provides good learning experiences for students?” (r = .246, p < .05) and ability to adjust items, “How well can you establish routines to keep online activities running smoothly?” (r = .330, p < .01) and “To what extent does your comfort level with computers facilitate participation in online teaching?” (r = .265, p < .05).
Conclusion: Results from this pilot study indicate a positive correlation between university faculty members’ stress and their perceived ability to adapt to structuring effective online courses. Limitations of this study include small sample size and failure to determine cause and effect due to the nature of correlational designs. Future research on faculty member’s self-efficacy regarding online teaching as it relates to stress may be warranted.
