| The purpose of this study was to determine whether institutional faculty development training for Web-based courses was available to faculty in Texas 4-year institutions. The study also sought faculty members' perceptions regarding mastery and importance of web-based teaching competencies.; The study used an online survey to gather data from faculty who were teaching at least one web-based course during the fall 2001 semester at Texas 4-year public institutions. The survey sought demographic data, faculty members' perceptions of the importance of selected competencies, and faculty members' perceptions of their current mastery level in those competencies.; Of the 136 participants, 75.7% indicated that faculty development programs for web-based instruction were available on their campus. Faculty members indicated on 0 to 5 point scale the importance of selected competencies and their current mastery of those same competencies. At the top of both of these rankings (importance and skill mastery) were the same three competencies of using e-mail, using Internet browsers and uploading/downloading files.; Chi-square test of significance was used to analyze group differences for accessibility of faculty development training based on (a) employment status and (b) faculty rank. A significant difference was found between those who were employed full time and those employed part-time. No significant difference was found for faculty rank.; Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze group differences. No significant differences were found for faculty members' views of the importance of instructional/technical skills based on (a) number of web-based courses taught or (b) number of years teaching. ANOVA was also used to analyze group differences for faculty members' views of their mastery level of skills based on (a) number of web-based courses taught and (b) number of years teaching. No significant difference was found between groups for the number of years teaching, but significant differences were found between those who had taught 1 to 2 courses and those who had taught 7 to 8, 11 to 12 or 13+ courses. |
