An examination of the relationship between technology problems and teaching evaluation of online instruction

• Published in: The Internet and higher education Vol. 6; no. 4; pp. 365 - 375
• Main Authors: Lan, William, Tallent-Runnels, Mary K., Fryer, Wes, Thomas, Julie, Cooper, Sandi, Wang, Kun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York, NY Elsevier Inc 2003; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: College students; Distance teaching; Educational sciences; Online instruction; Teaching aids; Teaching evaluation; Technology difficulties; Teaching evaluation; College students; Technology difficulties; Online instruction; Evaluation; E-learning; Higher Education; Distance Study; Technology; Teaching method; Student; Statistics
• ISSN: 1096-7516; 1873-5525
• DOI: 10.1016/j.iheduc.2003.07.003

To address faculty members' concern that teaching evaluation in the online environment might be lowered because of technology problems students experience in online courses, a sample of 202 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory statistics course in a college of business administration was surveyed. Students' evaluation of their instructors and the course and their experiences with technology problems when taking the course were measured. As expected, a negative correlation between teaching evaluation and experience of technology problems was observed. Based on the finding, it is suggested that, to encourage faculty members to teach online, universities need to examine the relationship between teaching evaluation and technology problems experienced by students in the online environment and adjust the evaluation skewed by problems that are out of instructors' control. Measurement instruments used in the study and a suggested formula for adjusting teaching evaluation are provided.