Perception of online teacher self-efficacy: A multi-state study of nursing faculty pivoting courses during COVID 19

Abstract

Background COVID-19 forced many colleges and schools of nursing to abruptly pivot face-to-face learning to online formats. Online teaching is not new, but some faculty have not taught in a virtual environment and rapidly transitioning courses online was challenging. It is not known if teacher self-efficacy was impacted by these circumstances. Objectives We aimed to assess online teacher self-efficacy of nursing faculty who transitioned at least one-face-to face course to an online format. We hypothesized that faculty with previous online teaching experience and greater self-rated instructional support would demonstrate higher online teacher self-efficacy scores compared to faculty who had little or no online teaching experience or reported less satisfaction with instructional support. Design A cross-sectional, descriptive design was used. Setting Faculty from ten universities across the United States were recruited. Participants Nursing faculty ( N = 84) who transitioned at least one face-to-face course to an online format during COVID-19 were included in the study. Methods Participants completed the 32-item Michigan Nurse Educators Sense of Efficacy for Online Teaching (MNESEOT) instrument and a demographic questionnaire which included items about prior online teaching experience and instructional support. Results Participants scored overall teacher self-efficacy high (75th percentile). “Computer skills” were scored highest while “student engagement” scored lowest. Prior online teaching was a predictor of higher online teacher self-efficacy; however, instructional support was not a predictor of higher online teacher self-efficacy. Conclusion Nursing faculty reported a high level of online teacher self-efficacy during an abrupt pivot from face-to-face teaching to a virtual format. Pre-emptive opportunities to teach online can build self-efficacy for novice faculty. Faculty and students will benefit from improving student engagement skills, especially during isolating and overwhelming events such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Exploring the experiences of nursing faculty during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic—A qualitative descriptive study

“…While comfort with the institutions learning management system made the transition of didactic content to an online platform relatively easy, the lack of pedagogic support to adapt active learning, lab, and clinical experiences into meaningful online instruction was an unexpected challenge with important consequences. As in other studies ( Culp-Roche et al, 2021 ), faculty struggled to develop lessons that supported students’ development of the psychomotor skills, interpersonal skills, and clinical judgment. Hawkins and Wiles (2020) reported that at the start of the pandemic, nearly 70% of nursing faculty had not taught online.…”

Student’s Self‐Efficacy and Perceptions of Online Learning on the Use Learning Management System

“…The significance in the student perception in terms of self-efficacy and expectations confirm the agreement with the literature on how essential self-efficacy is to online learning success. The quality of self-efficacy had significant the results revealed and impacts on satisfaction use of LMS based on prior experience (Alzahrani & Seth, 2021;Culp-Roche et al, 2021).…”

The Selectivity and Suitability of Online Learning Resources as Predictor of the Effects of Self-Efficacy on Teacher Satisfaction During the COVID-19 Lockdown

“…Self-efficacy belief is the result of individual emotion and the psychological thinking cognitive process ( Bandura, 1997 ). Meanwhile, teaching self-efficacy refers to the belief of teaching faculty in their ability to meet the challenges of teaching and to provide effective teaching for their students ( Culp-Roche et al, 2021 ). In this study, online teaching self-efficacy (OT-SE) could be regarded as the evaluation and judgment of whether teachers are competent to perform online teaching tasks when they carry out online education.…”