Key factors contributing to University Lecturers’ self-efficacy for online teaching and learning

Abstract

The Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic forced universities globally to close abruptly and adopt online teaching and learning (OTL). Lecturers had to make sudden and drastic changes to the traditional ways they had taught, and many of them had to rapidly adapt to new technologies to continue delivering lectures online. Challenging as this situation was, it presented an opportunity for lecturers’ capacity development in OTL. This qualitative case study, which has its roots in the capacity development workshops that were offered during the COVID-19 pandemic, reports on factors that contributed to lecturers’ self-efficacy for OTL. A purposive sample of 45 teacher educators participated in the study. The interpretivist-phenomenological paradigm and self-efficacy theory underpinned this study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed thematically using color-coding and grouping of responses. Findings revealed that participants were acutely aware of gaps in their OTL knowledge and skills. Factors that contributed to their self-efficacy for OTL included their human agency, workshop facilitators’ expertise and support from peers and students, friendly environmental atmosphere, and participants’ familiarity with OTL approaches. These findings are useful resources that, if understood and adopted, can help universities to provide the necessary support and equip lecturers with OTL skills that they can use to effectively deliver content online. It is recommended that universities and ICT trainers leverage the lessons learned from these findings, and that factors that inhibit lecturers’ self-efficacy for OTL, and those that promote students’ self-efficacy for OTL should be investigated.