Understanding Faculty and Student Attitudes about Distance Education

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to further understand faculty and student attitudes about distance education by exploring the psychological processes through which these attitudes are influenced. The authors explored whether feelings of excitement or fear mediate and/or moderate the relationships between experiences with distance education and various faculty and student attitudes. Survey data from 152 faculty and 1,400 students from a mid-sized United States public university were collected. The results of multiple regression analyses revealed support for both mediation and moderation in both samples. Thus, feelings of excitement/fear play a large role in explaining both why and to what degree experiences with distance education relate to attitudes. The authors suggest that consistent communication about the positive aspects of distance education that instill a sense of excitement among campus communities may be helpful in shaping more positive attitudes about online learning.