Paula Joseph
Critique 1
Faculty-Perceived Barriers of Online Education
The necessity and demand for online college courses is expanding. The development and
instruction of such courses is lagging behind the demand. The study reported on in this paper
examined the barriers to teaching and developing online courses as perceived by faculty
members at a state university in the southeastern United States. The researchers hope their
findings will aid other institutions in making administrative decisions regarding the necessary
training programs in the development of online courses.
In a review of the literature, the authors of the paper cited references which state that a large
majority of faculty who have no experience in online instruction or development, view online
courses as inferior to traditional classes. A paradigm shift is needed to increase the number of
online course offerings for students of the 21st Century. Institutional support and policy may
foster faculty training programs to address the need.
The three main areas to concentrate on are (1) intrinsic and extrinsic factors influencing faculty
(2) factors influencing faculty perceptions of online instruction (3) increasing the number of
faculty who participate.
Faculty concerns about participation in online courses include having adequate resources at the
institutional level and acquiring the proper knowledge and skills to maintain the course. The
study sought to identify more specific issues in these areas. The faculty group, who participated
in the study, was asked to report on what they perceived to be barriers to their involvement in
online courses. An online survey instrument was used to provide questions which dealt with
issues of social contact with students and compensation for increased responsibility, class size,
and time commitment.
Methods
Participants
Seventy-five faculty members from a southeastern U.S. state university with an enrollment of
4500 students. The faculty represented the broad demographics of the membership.
Materials
An online survey instrument, which was developed through the research of literature pertaining
to the subject, was used to gather information from the participants. It included 37 items
including demographic information about the faculty member, prior online educational
experiences, experience with technology, and questions about factors which the faculty member
may consider to be a barrier to his/her participation in online course development and teaching.
After analyzing the responses given by the faculty pertaining to possible barriers, four main
factors emerged as the basis for the study. These factors included interpersonal, institutional,
training/ technology, and cost/ benefit analysis barriers.
Data Analysis
The findings in this study were consistent with prior literature on the subject.
The results of the survey showed differences in the perceived barriers to participation in online
instruction based on gender, age of faculty member, prior experience with technology and online
education, and faculty status.
The greatest perceived barrier was found to be the time commitment to online courses.
Male participants perceived more barriers than females in the areas related to interpersonal,
institutional, training and technology, and cost/benefit analysis barriers. Male faculty did show a
higher comfort and proficiency level with technology.
Faculty age and faculty rank were instrumental in differences in perceived barriers. Ages 45 – 60
considered cost/benefit factors to be more of a barrier than the younger faculty. Older faculty
also tended to be the higher-ranked faculty and considered inadequate compensation a greater
barrier than the age 30-45 faculty.
Online educational and technology experience were factors for the amount of comfort and
proficiency with online courses. The age 40–60 faculty demonstrated a higher perceived barrier
in this area.
Evaluation of article
I chose the article because it was current and addressed an issue which I think is important to the
future and quality of online instruction. I believe that students are increasingly looking for
courses which offer material online, even if it is blended with a traditional approach. Findings of
such studies may help in the development of training programs for faculties.
The study which the article described relied heavily on prior research and literature. The study
did comprise an extensive list of faculty-perceived barriers which went beyond the scope of
previous studies. A new survey instrument was developed as a result and could prove useful in
further studies. As stated by the researchers, the participant sample was small and while it
demographically represented the university faculty as a whole, it was limited. I think the survey
instrument was professional and adequately analyzed. It was an online survey, which while
typical, could have presented a barrier of its’ own to the faculty who expressed a lack of comfort
and proficiency with technology.
I found the results to be predictable. I did not realize any new information regarding perceived
barriers after reading the article. The study concluded that the results were in agreement with
other studies. The usefulness of the study may be in future research where some of the
suggestions offered by the researchers in their conclusion can be addressed. The researchers
suggest opening the study to a larger and more diverse population and formally linking learning
outcomes to the online teaching skills of the faculty.
Lloyd, S., Byrne, M., McCoy, T. (2012). Faculty-Perceived Barriers of Online Education.
MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching.8 ( 1).