Moving from Face-to-Face to Remote Instruction in a Higher Education Institution during a Pandemic: Multiple Case Studies

Abstract

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, our institution, like others in higher education, suspended face- to-face classes and offered remote learning as an alternative. We report five cases of undergraduate and graduate courses that transitioned from a face-to-face to a remote mode. Each case will provide a detailed description of how the course was moved to an online mode, how the course was managed, the instructors’ previous experience in online teaching, their self-reflection on the process of transitioning to remote learning and their recommendations for a more successful experience in a similar potential scenario in the future. Further, we report the students’ perspectives based on their responses to an online survey. The combined results of the cases reported in this study reflect the resilience on both sides. A sudden shutdown of the university along with disease- related fears caused anxiety both for the students and instructors regardless of previous experience in online education. However, having online material pre-pandemic, possessing the technical skills, and previous online teaching or learning experience as well as having the infrastructure in place, facilitated the smooth navigation of the courses. The mode of delivery of the course (synchronous, asynchronous or blended) did not have an effect on students’ satisfaction.

Students’ perspective on higher educators: interpersonal relationship matters

“…This is consistent with the results of this study and the results of our previous finding with a local sample of our own classes (Ghazi-Saidi et al 2020 ). Based on our findings, we argue that students’ evaluations are typically subjective rather than objective (i.e., with measurable outcomes).…”

“…A relatively recent study has shown that interpersonal relationships in online environments are similar and correlated to face-to-face courses (Li et al 2018). Interpersonal relationships and strong communication were identified as important contributing factors for a successful face-to-face to online course transition during COVID-19 university shutdown (Ghazi-Saidi et al 2020 ). Many questions remain unanswered, however.…”

Active learning tools improve the learning outcomes, scientific attitude and critical thinking in higher education: Experiences in an online course during the COVID-19 pandemic

“…For this, we proposed problem-based learning strategies in questionnaires, elaboration of a scientific project and online quiz in order to complete the lectures. In the last few months, there has been a huge increase in the number of studies dedicated to developing and validating active learning strategies in remote or hybrid education, driven by the pandemic (Ghazi-Saidi et al, 2020; Hasnine and Ahmed, 2020; McGreevy and Church, 2020; Murugesan and Chidambaram, 2020; Qiang et al, 2020).…”

An Investigation of Pre-service Music Teachers’ Attitudes towards Online Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…Educational institutions suddenly shifted from traditional learning to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic (Batmang et al, 2021;Scull et al, 2020;Xu, 2020). The new technological situation and disruptions that emerged with the effect of the pandemic situation (Ghazi-Saidi, 2020) have led to the aggravation of the learning-teaching tasks of music teachers and students, resulting in a rise in negative emotional characteristics. Many extra tasks that require time and patience of teachers and students have revealed many demands regarding their professional practices and competencies in this period.…”