Emergency Move to Remote Teaching: A Mixed-Method Approach to Understand Faculty Perceptions and Instructional Practices

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the recent emergency move from face-to-face to remote teaching in higher education due to the coronavirus disease pandemic (COVID-19). This mixed-method study uses data collected from an anonymous online survey as well as case study interviews. We aim to examine how this novel phenomenon affected the perceptions and teaching experiences among faculty members who previously taught courses on campus and then suddenly switched to remote delivery of their courses during Spring 2020. Specifically, we explore how faculty adapted their instruction quickly during the semester and how they perceived the emergency transition to remote delivery. Our findings suggest that the extent to which faculty perceived remote teaching as easy or satisfying is closely associated with their degree of adjustment, their level of comfort with remote teaching, and whether their course was suitable for online instruction. Additionally, faculty reported benefiting more from resources for remote teaching provided within their college, compared to other university-wide resources. The study concludes by drawing some inferences about important factors that higher education institutions need to consider to effectively support faculty’s varying needs and instructional practices in an online environment.