Theses and Dissertations
Date of Award
2026
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education (EdD)
Department
Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice
Advisor
Gary Reglin
Committee Member
Andrew Lumpe
Committee Member
Kimberly Durham
Keywords
academic achievement, assessment competencies, assessment competency, assessment strategies, breakout rooms, constant-comparative data analysis, critical thinking, effective assessments, frequencies and percentages, high school online teachers, high school teachers, instructional effectiveness, online assessment, online courses, online instruction, online learning, online learning barriers, online pedagogy, perceptions, professional development, qualitative data analysis, quantitative data analysis, questionnaire, research questions, rubrics, self-efficacy, South Florida, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, student achievement, student comprehension, student engagement, student support, survey research, teacher confidence, teacher perceptions, teacher training, thematic analysis, timely feedback, urban school district, virtual education
Abstract
The problem in this study was that, in a large urban school district in South Florida, the online high school teachers’ training, self-efficacy, and assessment competencies in courses required enhancement. The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of high school teachers on their training, self-efficacy, and assessment competency in online courses.
Twenty high school online teachers participated in the study. Recruitment occurred through a link posted on Facebook and LinkedIn. The design (sequential explanatory mixed-methods design) aligned with the five research questions. Two instruments (survey and questionnaire) were used to collect data. Quantitative data analyis occurred with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to compute frequencies and percentages. Qualitative data analysis guidance happened with a modified version of the constant-comparative data analysis procedure to engender themes.
For Research Question 1, teachers reported on the adequacy of their abilities to assess online learning. Teachers perceived high confidence for employing a variety of assessment strategies and gauging students’ comprehension of the instruction. For Research Question 2, teachers conveyed their sense of self-efficacy to teach online courses. They reported high self-efficacy in facilitating students to think critically and follow the rules for assignments and deadlines. With Research Question 3, teachers revealed their abilities to assess online learning. Teachers indicated their high confidence for assessing difficult questions from students and crafting probing questions requiring students to think critically. For Research Question 4, themes conveyed barriers that lowered teachers’ self-efficacy with online instruction. Examples of barriers included students hiding from the online camera view and students being distracted by unwanted noise and other events in their homes. Themes revealed strengths of the online instruction like teachers providing opportunities to meet with students who desired more help during teachers’ office hours and mini sessions in breakout rooms. Themes reflected teachers’ perceptions on effective assessments like having clear rubrics and providing timely feedback to students from the rubrics. With Research Question 5, the qualitative themes from Research Question 4 confirmed, expanded, and helped to explain the quantitative findings in Research Questions 1, 2, and 3.
NSUWorks Citation
Chantell Radford. 2026. Mixed-Methods Study of High School Teachers’ Perceived Training, Self-Efficacy, and Assessment Competencies in Online Courses. Doctoral dissertation. Nova Southeastern University. Retrieved from NSUWorks, Abraham S. Fischler College of Education and School of Criminal Justice. (1168)
https://nsuworks.nova.edu/fse_etd/1168.