Date

5-2022

Department

School of Education

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)

Chair

Michael D. Patrick

Keywords

COVID-19 pandemic, online instructional technology, self-efficacy

Disciplines

Higher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of higher education faculty with implementing instructional technology tools and changing instructional practices at a public university in the western United States during the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic emergency remote teaching. Guiding this study was Bandura’s (1977) theory of self-efficacy pertaining to an individual's belief and confidence in their ability to perform and have control over the necessary motivation, behaviors, and social environment to produce specific outcomes. Additionally, the Technology Pedagogy Content Knowledge (TPACK) framework and andragogical principles provided the theoretical underpinnings of this study. Data were collected from 13 participants through individual interviews, collection of documents and artifacts, and focus groups and analyzed using Moustakas’ (1994) transcendental phenomenological approach. Four themes emerged: (a) teaching experience, (b) student performance, (c) workload, health, and personal responsibilities, and (d) silver linings. Participants reported prior experience teaching online, or mastery experiences, as a major contributing factor in their increased self-efficacy with the transition to emergency remote teaching. Institutional support for online teaching, online teaching and learning training for all faculty and students, and increasing online course offerings were revealed as recommendations to facilitate institutional emergency readiness. The lived experiences described by participants revealed that experience, proper training, a supportive culture with appropriate systems and policies in place were crucial with implementing online instructional technology tools and changing instructional practices during emergency remote teaching. While the COVID-19 pandemic presented challenges for participants in a variety of ways such as with student performance, increased workload, teaching style preference issues, health, and personal responsibilities, there were silver linings that emerged such as information gained addressing institutional emergency readiness factors, new skillsets attained, social justice solutions realized such as ways to serve students with disabilities more effectively, and solutions to other diversity, equity, and inclusion issues. Future research could also expand to students to gain a deeper understanding of how emergency remote learning affected them during the pandemic.

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