Innovative Teaching and Learning Approaches During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Case Study of Five Liberal Arts Institutions in East Asia

Abstract

Liberal arts educationLiberal arts education emphasizes student-oriented teaching and learning, placing a high value on close relationships between faculty and students. This interactive teaching and learning mode plays a significant role in facilitating whole-person educationwhole-person education. However, given the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the higher education sector has been forced to adopt online teaching and learningonline teaching and learning, which typically reduce the effectiveness of personal interactions, thus potentially bringing difficulties especially in liberal arts education. This chapter aims to examine how liberal arts colleges and liberal arts programs within large comprehensive/research universities in Asia innovate student learning experiences when the study mode shifts from face-to-face mode to online. On the basis of the comparative analyses of selected liberal arts institutions and literature review about the implementation on innovating education, the chapter explores how these institutions have adopted innovationsinnovations to enhance student learning experience but still maintain the liberal arts education tradition. While the return of face-to-face learning and teaching is highly anticipated, the values of online teaching and learning still need to be reimagined and reinterpreted.