Autonomy, Motivation, and Digital Pedagogy Are Key Factors in the Perceptions of Spanish Higher-Education Students toward Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

María Dolores Díaz-Noguera,Carlos Hervás-Gómez,Eloy López-Meneses,Ana María De La Calle-Cabrera

doi:10.3390/ijerph19020654

Abstract

This paper proposes a development model of the adaptation capacity of students to digital transformation in university teaching through three constructs: motivations, digital pedagogy, and student autonomy. For this study, an ad hoc scale was created to record the adaptation capacity of students to digital transformation. The sample was 483 students from the University of Seville (Spain), to whom an online survey was administered during the development of online teaching in the period of November 2020 using the Google Forms platform. The findings of this study showed that university student motivation acquired a greater threshold than autonomy, whose threshold in turn, was greater than that of digital pedagogy in the ability to adapt to online teaching and that the capacity of adaptation to the online modality is explained by the perception that university students have of the usefulness, products, and learning outcomes, among others. In conclusion, the lack of adequate and enabled study spaces is key to developing the online model. We consider all these aspects as prospective research objectives.

Highlights

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, university students and faculty were forced to learn and teach online
What factors favor the adaptation capacity of students to the new higher education model? What is the relationship between self-regulated learning and autonomy in university students? Is it necessary to develop a pedagogical design as the core idea, where challenges can be overcome such as the detachment of online tasks from face-to-face tasks? In this sense, the following specific objectives are set to define a model of the adaptation capacity of students toward digital transformation in university teaching
In the previous section, where the data collection instrument is presented, we respond to the first objective of the work: to formulate a scale to discover the adaptation capacity of students toward digital transformation in university teaching based on a theoretical model that integrates the constructs: motivations, digital pedagogy, and student autonomy (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, university students and faculty were forced to learn and teach online. Regarding the adaptation of the educational community, our questions are focused on students. The following specific objectives are set to define a model of the adaptation capacity of students toward digital transformation in university teaching. What factors favor the adaptation capacity of students to the new higher education model? The background for this type of question is found in systematic reviews on these topics [1]. One of the most important advances was the development of communication and interaction tools [3], which allowed access to teaching resources that have enriched university learning and the multidisciplinary and global understanding of knowledge

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Discussion

Conclusion