This study aims to investigate the causes of the performance deficiencies of distance faculty in Turkey and to design interventions for performance improvement accordingly. This article presents the first part of this comprehensive study: causes of the performance deficiencies. The externality–tangibility (E-T) model of human performance guided the study, and grounded theory research design was employed. The participants were all stakeholders of distance education (DE): DE experts including the national policy makers, the faculty, administrators, students, and support staff. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, through observations on distance courses, and from the relevant documents. Interview schedules were developed separately for each participant group. The gathered data were analyzed using constant comparative analysis, and the findings of the first part are presented here by using Ishikawa diagrams. These findings reveal diverse but interrelated causes of the deficiencies classified according to the nine elements of the E-T model.

中文翻译：

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远程教育教师绩效改进：绩效不足的原因（上）

本研究旨在调查土耳其远程教师绩效不足的原因，并相应地设计干预措施以提高绩效。本文介绍了这项综合研究的第一部分：性能缺陷的原因。以人类绩效的外部性-有形性（ET）模型为指导，采用扎根理论研究设计。参与者都是远程教育 (DE) 的所有利益相关者：远程教育专家，包括国家政策制定者、教师、管理人员、学生和支持人员。这些数据是通过半结构化访谈、远程课程观察和相关文件收集的。为每个参与者组分别制定了访谈时间表。使用持续比较分析对收集的数据进行分析，第一部分的研究结果在这里使用石川图呈现。这些发现揭示了根据 ET 模型的九个要素分类的缺陷的不同但相互关联的原因。