Do instructor beliefs and attitudes matter? Understanding associations between beliefs, attitudes, and practices

Abstract

A mixed-method approach is used to examine the relationship between university instructors’ practices in blended courses and their epistemological and pedagogical beliefs, and their attitudes toward technology. The study draws from a socio-constructive perspective and uses Fishbein and Ajzen’s belief and attitude theory and applies it to a blended framework.  Data were collected using an online survey of 71 instructors, semi-structured individual interviews with 24 instructors and one to four classroom observations of 15 instructors. The interviews were audio-recorded, and the classroom observations were collected via hand-written notes. Data were analyzed via NVIVO 12 and SPSS. Findings explore relationships between instructors’ beliefs around knowledge, hard work and student self-regulation skills to their instructional strategies and involvement of students. The study also looks at instructor use of different technologies in blended courses and explores the connection between their attitudes towards technology and their practices. This study, thus, offers guidance to academic leaders, instructors, developers, and policymakers and has several implications for research and instructor development workshops.