COVID-19 has had a profound influence on the conduct of teaching and learning in higher education. Almost everywhere a sudden shift occurred as educators transitioned courses from mainly face-to-face teaching and learning to emergency remote instruction, mostly conducted online. While details varied for individual faculty members, institutions, and countries, all confronted new challenges. We examine the immediate effects of COVID-19 on teaching and learning in higher education. Our results are based on a sample of 309 courses, and the academic staff who taught them, at eight colleges and universities varying in size and context across four continents. We document first how institutions, and their instructors, varied in their capacity for dealing with the rapidity of the COVID-19 teaching and learning pivot. We further demonstrate that the suddenness of the pandemic's onset, and the quick response this demanded of instructors, meant that there was little systematic patterning in how academic staff were able to adapt -save for nimbleness. Rapidity of response meant differences were far more idiosyncratic than they were systematic, at least with respect to how individual faculty responded.

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Moreno, M. M., Rodrigo, M. M. T., Torres, J. M., Gaspar, T. J., Casano, J.A. (2022) Cura Personalis during COVID-19: Student and Faculty Perceptions of the Pedagogy of Compassion. Computer-Based Learning in Context, 5 (1), 22-63. 10.5281/zenodo.7256911 In early 2020, the COVID-19 forced schools, colleges, and universities to close their campuses and shift 1.5 billion learners from the face-to-face mode of instruction to online learning. The abruptness of the shift took a toll on students' mental and emotional health. In response, educational institutions prioritized the use of compassion-based teaching and learning policies and approaches in order to create environments in which students can continue to thrive. This paper describes how the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines implemented its own brand of compassion-based teaching, cura personalis or care for the entire person. We discuss the circumstances that motivated the emphasis on compassion, the teaching and learning practices that enacted compassion, and the tradeoffs or costs to the institution. We found that the pandemic made it difficult for students to concentrate on their studies, were less engaged, and were fearful and anxious. Teachers therefore focused on students’ emotional wellbeing by conducting regular check-ins, just to find out how they were, and relaxed assessment requirements. As a consequence, teachers had to greatly reduce the scope of their subjects and deprioritize academic rigor. It is in this context that recommendations are made to balance emotional and academic wellbeing.

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