Education Commons^™

Postsecondary Teachers’ Perspectives On Effectively Engaging Learners In Today’S Post "Pandemic Pedagogy" Era, Deepak P. Subramony

Educational Considerations

This article presents the findings of a recent study surveying and interviewing post-secondary teachers within a college of education at a large, Carnegie "R1" public university in the Midwestern United States to unearth their perspectives of how to better engage their learners within the hybrid/multiple-modality instructional contexts that represent the new normal in today’s post "pandemic pedagogy" era. Within the current context of potentially emerging new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and/or other pathogens, it also discusses key findings related to the teachers’ views regarding the current levels of institutional support they receive to this end, and their perspectives regarding …

Changes In Obstacles To Learning During The Covid-19 Pandemic For University Students And Recommended Solutions, Becky Williams, Sunshine L. Brosi

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruptions to student learning from K–12 to universities and continues to manifest negative effects on students. To better understand the challenges our students face and how those obstacles have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic began, we surveyed our undergraduate ecology students who ranked obstacles to learning they experience in technology, learning environment, and economic security. The majority of respondents report conditions have worsened since the onset of the pandemic. Surveys identified the largest challenges on average were being unfamiliar with technology, using a smartphone or tablet for …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 6, Issue 2, Fall 2022

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Fall 2022 issue (Volume 6, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Fall 2022 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to reflective practice and learning. The first article examines the impact of the SOAP Notes tool on teaching, learning, and instructor reflection. The second article provides guidance for faculty on how to collect, explain, and showcase their efforts in a teaching portfolio. Article three shares the findings of a student survey to identify students' experience with the design elements found in the Quality …

Prepared To Pivot: Creating A Resilient Basic Course Program, Nicholas T. Tatum, Melissa A. Broeckelman-Post

Basic Communication Course Annual

The rapid transition to emergency remote teaching due to COVID-19 provides many lessons for how BCDs can design resilient basic course programs that will be prepared to adapt in any number of potential future emergencies. BCDs can design resilient courses by pre-planning how courses will maintain instructional continuity, pre-loading pivoting options into learning management systems, and adopting online texts that are accessible anywhere. BCDs can also build instructor resilience by providing high-quality training and providing continued support for instructor well-being.

Pandemic Pedagogy: Elements Of Online Supportive Course Design, Nate Brophy, Melissa A. Broeckelman-Post, Karin Nordin, Angela D. Miller, Michelle Buehl, Jeff Vomund

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

The purpose of this study was to identify which course design elements students perceive as supporting an easier transition to emergency remote teaching due to COVID-19, as well as to use those items to develop the Online Supportive Course Design (OSCD) measure. By asking students to rate their course with the easiest transition and hardest transition to emergency remote teaching, this study identified which structural elements were most important for supporting students during the transition. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, a seven-item measure was developed to operationalize OSCD, and initial validity was established by examining the relationships between OSCD, …

Reflexivity And Practice In Covid-19: Qualitative Analysis Of Student Responses To Improvisation In Their Research Methods Course, Elizabeth L. Spradley, R. Tyler Spradley

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

The improvisations needed to adapt to COVID-19 teaching and learning conditions affected students and faculty alike. This study uses chaos theory and improvisation to examine an undergraduate communication research methods course that was initially delivered synchronously/face-to-face and then transitioned to asynchronous/online in March 2020. Reflective writings were collected at the end of the semester with the 25 students enrolled in the course and follow-up interviews conducted with six students. Thematic analysis revealed that available and attentive student-participant, student-student, and student-instructor communication complemented learner-centered and person-centered goals, but unavailable or inattentive communication, especially with participants and students in the research team, …

"It's Been A Good Reminder That Students Are Human Beings": An Exploratory Inquiry Of Instructors’ Rhetorical And Relational Goals During Covid-19, Victoria Mcdermott, Drew T. Ashby-King

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

As colleges and universities moved to remote learning during the Spring 2020 semester due to COVID-19, the traditional higher education classroom format was challenged. This study examines how instructors reconceptualized their rhetorical and relational goals in the pandemic classroom. A thematic analysis of 68 qualitative survey responses revealed that instructors adapted their rhetorical and relational approaches to instruction due to a perceived change in students’ needs. Moreover, findings suggest that instructors intend to continue to use many of these instructional changes in their post-pandemic classrooms. These conclusions confirm that instructors should consider contextual factors not only during but also after …

Unpacking Privilege In Pandemic Pedagogy: Social Media Debates On Power Dynamics Of Online Education, Roy Schwartzman

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

As one of the world’s major social media hubs dedicated to online education during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Facebook mega-group Pandemic Pedagogy provides a panoramic perspective of the key concerns educators and students face amid a public health crisis that forces redefinition of what constitutes effective education. After several months of instruction under pandemic conditions, two central themes emerged as the most extensively discussed and the most intensively contested: (1) rigor versus accommodation in calibrating standards for students, and (2) ways to improve engagement during classes conducted through videoconferencing, especially via Zoom. Both themes reveal deeply embedded systems of privilege …

What Covid-19 Taught Us About Pedagogy And Social Justice—Pandemic Or Not, Brandi Lawless, Yea-Wen Chen

Journal of Communication Pedagogy

The COVID-19 pandemic (in conjunction with the Black Lives Matter Movement) exposed pervasive inequities, challenges, and opportunities to explore and implement “best” pedagogical practices to improve how we address social justice issues. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic intensified intergenerational gaps for the already vulnerable, under-resourced, and marginalized in our society. In response, we propose four “best practices” to embrace in our classrooms. These are: (a) fostering flexibility to bridge equity gaps; (b) rethinking the pedagogical panopticon; (c) emphasizing listening to and affirming students’ struggles; and (d) employing student-centered accountability. The authors detail some specific inequalities that were brought to the surface …

There’S Nothing Novel About Our Disdain For Education: Teaching In The Midst Of Covid-19, Kristen A. Marakoff

New Jersey English Journal

Teachers are inundated with messaging about the “failure” of the education system in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. But problems with the education system are not novel, and dismissal of the accomplishments of teachers in the midst of those obstacles also predates COVID-19.

“Making The Unusual Usual:” Students’ Perspectives And Experiences Of Learning At Home During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mary Beth Schaefer, Sandra Schamroth Abrams, Molly Kurpis, Madeline Abrams, Charlotte Abrams

Middle Grades Review

This child-parent research is a student-led inquiry into three adolescent girls’ experiences of learning during the age of COVID-19 shelter-in-place mandate. In this collaborative autoethnography, a research team of five (three adolescent researchers—two of whom are sisters—and their respective mothers) met via videoconference to engage in five rounds of inductive and deductive data collection and analyses. Findings capture the three adolescents’ experiences of new teaching methods in new learning spaces: (1) the physical space of “Doing School at Home-How it feels;” (2) the negotiations undertaken by the girls called “Improvisation and a School Mindset;” and (3) the need to respond …

The Global Pandemic As Learning Opportunities About The World: Extending School Curriculum, Bogum Yoon

Middle Grades Review

The purpose of this essay is to offer middle grades educators with suggestions on promoting students’ global perspectives by using the international pandemic as a main topic during and after the COVID-19 crisis. The outbreak of the coronavirus has affected individuals’ lives and education around the world including the United States. This phenomenon invites educators to work with students for deepening their understanding about the interconnected world as global citizens. Yet, education about the world is severely lacking. There is little in-depth discussion on how educators can help young adolescents to learn this interconnected world concept by using the current …

Teaching Through Collective Trauma In The Era Of Covid-19: Trauma-Informed Practices For Middle Level Learners, Shantel D. Crosby Lmsw, Phd, Penny B. Howell Edm, Edd, Shelley Thomas Mat, Edd

Middle Grades Review

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on education and the ways in which teachers engage their students. Given the individual and collective traumatic nature and impact of this global health crisis, we provide specific strategies for addressing the needs of young adolescents while teaching remotely. Specifically, we posit that middle level educators should embed trauma-informed practices, focused on restoring safety and modeling adaptive behaviors, into their remote instructional practices. Recognizing that the COVID-19 crisis has a collective traumatic impact, affecting the lives and wellbeing of students and teachers alike, we also discuss the importance of self-care, providing strategies …

Covid-19, Middle Level Teacher Candidates, And Colloquialisms: Navigating Emergency Remote Field Experiences, Brooke B. Eisenbach, Paula Greathouse, Caroline Acquaviva

Middle Grades Review

COVID-19 challenged teacher educators and teacher candidates in ways we could have never imagined. Colloquialisms regarding the move from educator preparation to practice shifted from common truths to dynamic considerations in light of the pandemic and transition to emergency remote teaching and learning. In this essay, we share our experiences working with middle level teacher candidates during the COVID-19 pandemic. We identify the ways in which our teacher candidates rose to the challenge and demonstrated critical thinking, creativity and compassion beyond our prior expectations of rising middle level educators amidst a time of unprecedented change and uncertainty.