An Exploratory Assessment of the Educational Practices during COVID-19

Abstract

Purpose: The study seeks to address the state of teaching-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic by assessing the pedagogies used, evidence collected, best practices employed, and technologies used for instruction by the academics in higher education institutions (HEIs). The study also analyses the impact of Online Academic Motivation (OAM) and Online Academic Amotivation (OAA) of the teachers on the Online Student Engagement (OSE) during the emergency remote teaching (ERT) period.Methodology: The study employs a mixed methodology by incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods for analysis. Data used in this study have been drawn from a pool of educationists teaching in various higher education institutions in different parts of India (n=900). Sentiment analysis, project map, and mind map have been used to analyze the teachers' experiences in the new teaching environment. Further, the study employs Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis and Path Analysis to measure and validate the study's scales.Findings: The combination of empirical and qualitative analysis captured the emergency remote teaching (ERT) model followed by the teachers. The overall experience of teachers regarding the online mode of teaching-learning is moderately positive. The study reports a direct positive and significant impact of teachers' motivation on perceived student engagement in the online mode.Originality: This research proposes and validates scales to measure perceived online student engagement and the teacher's online academic motivation. The study also establishes an impact assessment of the teacher's motivation levels on the student's engagement from an educator's perspective.