Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

12-2023

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Department

Educational Leadership

Committee Chair

Wanda Maulding Green, Ed.D.

Abstract

The COVID-19 global pandemic created challenges for educators across the United States and worldwide. Without the skills, prior experience, or preparational training, educators were tasked with continuing to provide instruction (and support) for their students while teaching remotely. Due to these challenges in education, the researcher chose to investigate the relationships between online teaching self-efficacy (OTSE), teachers’ technology knowledge (TTK), and job satisfaction (JS) in K-12 classrooms. Using the adaptive versions of the TPACK survey (Mishra & Koehler, 2006); Teachers'’’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES: Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001); and Teacher Satisfaction Scale (TSS: Ho & Au, 2006), quantitative data were gathered from 335 elementary, middle, and high school teachers from a large urban school system in the Southeastern United States. The researcher then investigated the direct effects between variables and explored the possibility of OTSE acting as a mediator in the relationship between TTK and JS of K-12 teachers. The findings revealed that participants believed they had a significant influence over how much they could impact their students in online classrooms, ranging from “some influence” to “quite a bit.” Additionally, responses ranged from “neutral” to “agreement” regarding their technology knowledge and job satisfaction, highlighting the importance of providing adequate training and support to teachers in the use of technology.

Based on the results from the research, there was a weak positive correlation between TTK and JS. There was also a weak positive correlation between OTSE and job satisfaction. However, the study found a moderate positive correlation between technology knowledge and online teaching self-efficacy. Ultimately, it was concluded that online teaching self-efficacy plays a mediating role in the relationship between teacher technology knowledge and job satisfaction.

In summary, the study found that OTSE, TTK was positively related to JS in K-12 classrooms. This suggests that as OTSE and TTK increased JS also increased. Acknowledging the challenges educators faced during the COVID-19 pandemic identified and reinforced the need to continue to provide resources and support to ensure teachers can effectively meet the needs of their students while teaching remotely.

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