Online teaching self-efficacy of Chinese university teachers amidst Covid-19: its changes and the moderation of adaptability and administration quality

Teacher self-efficacy is among the most valued teacher motivational constructs. However, little is known about university teachers' self-efficacy and even less about changes to it throughout the Covid-19-related online teaching. This study applied a retrospective pre- and post-design to investigate changes in online teaching self-efficacy (OTSE) during Covid-19. Participants included 160 Chinese university teachers, who reported their OTSE before and after the COVID-19 lockdowns, adaptability and administration quality together with demographic information. The self-efficacy for online instruction failed to increase significantly over this period (beta=.21, p = .083), whereas that for online technology applications increased significantly (beta=.329, p < .01). Individual adaptability and administration quality significantly moderated the changes in OTSE. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed.

Automated summary

This study investigated the changes in online teaching self-efficacy (OTSE) during the Covid-19 pandemic among Chinese university teachers. It found that OTSE did not significantly increase, while self-efficacy for online technology applications did. Individual adaptability and administration quality significantly influenced the changes in OTSE.