Development and validation of the online instructor presence scale: Assessing the dimensions of online teaching

The literature on online presence suggests critical presences that an instructor must create in order to provide a comprehensive educational experience for the online learner. However, available validated research instruments have limitations in terms of assessing the nature and extent of instructors' presence in the online learning landscape. This study developed and validated an instrument for assessing instructor presence in an online learning environment. Four hundred and four students (285 men and 119 women) from a Ghanaian university, enrolled in various master's degree programmes during the 2021–2022 academic year, participated in the study. Based on the literature and expert consultations, we administered generated items to the students, adhering to the rudiments of the factor analytical framework (i.e., exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses). The factor analytical procedures produced 37 items that corresponded to four well-validated and reliable factors: teaching presence (10 items, α = 0.92), cognitive presence (8 items, α = 0.91), social presence (9 items, α = 0.91) and emotional presence (10 items, α = 0.93). Gender measurement invariance was confirmed. Future studies can use the Online Instructor Presence Scale as a standardised tool to assess instructor presence in an online learning environment.