The relationship among self-efficacy, instructor feedback, and technical support of learners in an online learning environment

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship among self-efficacy, and two barriers, instructor feedback, and technical support of learners in an online learning environment. An existing instrument was used to measure self-efficacy and two instruments were developed to measure instructor feedback and technical support. From the literature, items were constructed to assess instructor feedback and technical support and were examined by two expert reviewers for relevancy and appropriateness. The 55-item instrument was available online and measured the perception of the online learners with respect to self-efficacy, instructor feedback, and technical support. The instrument was available for all 163 students in the Department of Human Resource Development at a major university taking a course online. A total of 72 students completed the survey, which yielded a response rate of 44%. The data revealed that no significant differences were found in self-efficacy among learners according to experience, gender, or classification, no interactions were found between gender and classification, between gender and experience, or between experience and classification, and no relationship existed between self-efficacy and instructor feedback or between self-efficacy and technical support. The only significant difference was the positive relationship between instructor feedback and student satisfaction among the learners, r = .62, R < .01.