Abstract
In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic turned into an urgent priority for higher education institutions in that they had to move to remote teaching within a matter of weeks. This paper presents the results of a quantitative survey looking at the challenges university faculty were facing when moving their course(s) online during the first semester of the COVID-19 crisis.The survey looks specifically at course design and formats used in online teaching during the crisis and compares differences occurring between disciplines (STEM and management education). The outcomes overall mirror a sense of achievement due to the successful delivery of online courses with little preparation. Difficulties lecturers identified were related to promoting student interaction and engagement, technical issues, the effort required to plan and prepare online learning materials, and challenges with regard to online assessment. Having access to training and support in various forms was highlighted as an important success factor.
Highlights
Introduction and backgroundIn spring 2020, the sudden and unexpected pandemic under COVID-19 impacted all parts of society and almost all sectors of the economy
Given the clear and increased responsibility higher education (HE) teachers have during COVID-19, the following questions are addressed in this study: How have HE teachers dealt with the overall challenges when teaching online? Which teaching modalities have they used? What did they have to adapt in terms of teaching materials, assessment and workload for students? How did they cope with new technology? What kind of support did they need and seek?
It is interesting to note that, despite the challenges faculty were facing during the emergency transition, the shift to online teaching was perceived as both easy and successful by a majority of respondents
Summary
In spring 2020, the sudden and unexpected pandemic under COVID-19 impacted all parts of society and almost all sectors of the economy. The emerging literature and studies conducted under the first wave of COVID19 dealing with the effects of the pandemic on HE point at the overall challenges and difficulties faced by both governments and institutions, as well as technical constraints such as internet access and speed, availability of hardware, and the sourcing of online materials and suitable learning platforms [2, 4]. Pedagogical challenges in online teaching during COVID-19 are, if at all, only touched upon in the literature It is especially a lack of knowledge concerning the use of technology and learning platforms and, respectively, the lack of time to gain such knowledge, that is considered in more detail [2]. For an overall overview drawing on some 75 reports, surveys and studies the NESET report [2] is highly recommended
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