Award Date

May 2018

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Psychology & Higher Education

First Committee Member

Victoria J. Rosser

Second Committee Member

Gwen C. Marchand

Third Committee Member

Nathan M. Slife

Fourth Committee Member

John W. Filler

Number of Pages

168

Abstract

Currently, little research exists that speaks specifically to the motivation of faculty to teach in higher education settings. Given the changes that higher education has faced over the last few decades, the demographics of the faculty has transformed. The competing demands of research, teaching, and service challenge faculty at every juncture, and some have suggested that throughout this process, it is the students who are losing. What motivates faculty in higher education to teach, and what are the factors that contribute to that motivation? To answer this question, faculty motivation to teach was explored through the theoretical frameworks of teacher efficacy, achievement goals, and task values. In addition, constructs of work-life, satisfaction and perceptions of student motivation were employed. This study found support for a bifactor exploratory structural equation model (BF-ESEM), where a latent underlying factor defined as motivation to teach was identified. Above and beyond the motivation to teach general factor, each of the 11 specific motivational factors of teacher efficacy, achievement goals, and task values were identified. Further, several factors including perceptions of student motivation were found to positively impact motivation to teach, while research requirements were found to negatively impact motivation to teach. Worklife, satisfaction and motivation to teach were all found to negatively impact intent to leave.

Keywords

Achievement Goals; Bi-Factor ESEM; Faculty Motivation; Self-Efficacy; Task Values; Teaching

Disciplines

Education

File Format

pdf

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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