University faculty serve as pivotal agents in first-class undergraduate course development. Through grounded theory analysis of 18 instructors engaged in blended learning initiatives, this study identifies a tripartite behavioral sequence: action initiation, action consideration, and action selection. These phases interconnect via dynamic individual-environment interactions. The coupling of internal and external motivations initiates course development preparation. Faculty then navigate differentiated contexts—favorable conditions, constraints, adversities, and dilemmas—resulting from the interplay between institutional support levels and personal commitment. Within these contexts, instructors adopt distinct action strategies shaped by self-efficacy, student needs, team dynamics, and administrative factors: mutual commitment in favorable contexts, reciprocal disengagement under constraints, proactive adaptation amid adversities, and involuntary compliance within dilemmas. These approaches yield varying satisfaction levels that subsequently inform three distinct developmental pathways: enhancement-oriented refinement (high satisfaction), aspirational advancement (moderate satisfaction), and strategic reorientation (low satisfaction).