An Exploratory Study of the Relationship Between Online Instruction and Faculty Development Among Teacher Education Faculty

The purpose of the study was to explore factors that influence the intent of teacher education faculty members in the State of Illinois to teach online and their intent to participate in faculty development using Ajzen\u27s theory of planned behavior. Understanding the beliefs and attitudes of teacher educators, their normative frame of reference, and elements of external control in regard to online instruction and faculty development, will provide rich data to administrators and faculty developers who must aid faculty in the preparation of online instruction. A 40-item questionnaire went out to a sample of 300 teacher education faculty members via email. Through linear regression, the findings indicated a positive relationship between the intent to teach online and the intent to participate in faculty development. Self-efficacy served as an additional construct in the study and when added to the regression equations proved positively significant. A review of the data from adopters and non-adopters of the intent to teach online revealed a positive response by the non-adopters to teach online if they had appropriate training. Further research is needed to understand past behavior, self-efficacy, and the effect of intervention implementation plans for faculty development pertaining to online instruction