An Evaluation of Online Courses in English Departments at Palestinian Universities during Covid-19 Pandemic Using the IHEP 2000 Quality Benchmarks

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected students all over the world. Unfortunately, Palestinian students feel the compounding effects of an ongoing occupation paired with a global pandemic. This study observes Palestinian university students and instructors perceptions toward using online learning applications and the extent to which these applications meet Institute of Higher Education Policy (IHEP) benchmarks during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers used a quantitative tool to collect data from students and instructors from twelve Palestinian universities. For data collection, two online questionnaires were distributed. The sample of this study consisted of 375 students and instructors from different Palestinian universities. The results show that instructors agree that online learning meets most IHEP benchmarks. Whereas, students don’t agree that online learning meets IHEP benchmarks.