Teaching conceptions and teaching context affect the enacted practice of online teachers

Abstract

This study examined effects on enacted teaching practice in an exclusively online context within a large vocational education sector in Australia. A wide-ranging exploratory survey instrument was constructed with questions drawn from validated surveys and a review of literature in the field of online pedagogy. The study found that both teaching conceptions and teaching context affect enacted practice in this online vocational education teaching context. Notably, some of the teaching context factors investigated in this study were found to cause enacted practice to shift away from what these teachers perceived as good online teaching. This study contributes to our understanding of online teaching practices and what affects it.