Pandemic Pedagogy and Emergency Remote Instruction: Transitioning Scheduled In-Person Courses to Online Diminishes Effective Teaching and Student Learning Outcomes

Abstract

ABSTRACT Conducted during a semester of remote emergency instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this study examined the effects of rapidly switching an originally scheduled in-person course to an online course offering (after the course had already started in-person) on effective teaching behaviors and student learning outcomes. Results from 163 undergraduate students, who completed survey assessments about their course that was both in-person and then later online, indicated that switching the course modality diminished their learning opportunities by decreasing performance efficacy in the course, sustained attention to instruction, motivation to process the course material, and affect for the course content. Moreover, results indicated that students received less teacher confirmation after the switch, which in turn, produced a decline in learning outcomes. However, students higher in effort regulation were not affected as much by the rapid change in course modality. These findings offer pedagogical implications for emergency remote instruction when originally scheduled face-to-face courses no longer meet in person.