Prolonged Emergency Remote Teaching: Sustainable E-Learning or Human Capital Stuck in Online Limbo?
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Describe engineering students’ personal impressions and the feelings that they experience while attending PERT courses—study 1.
- Describe engineering teachers’ personal impressions and the feelings that they experience while conducting PERT courses—study 2.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Sustainable E-Learning and E-Learning in Higher Engineering Education
- A learning design has been developed and implemented within the course of study, and judged to be beneficial to teaching and learning (i.e., for both sides of the process).
- E-learning resources, design, and concept have the potential to be adapted and adopted for use beyond the original environment in which they were developed.
- Further use and further development of the e-learning resources, design, and concept should not remain dependent on the individuals who created them.
2.2. COVID-19 Pandemic and Higher Education
3. Research Setting: Timeframe, Study Site, Pre-Pandemic Classroom Scenario, and Remote Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic
4. Methods
4.1. Data Collection and Participants
4.1.1. Study 1
4.1.2. Study 2
4.2. Data Analysis
4.2.1. Psychological Phenomenological Analysis
- All three principal researchers PR1, PR2, and PR3 (being university professors themselves) filtered out their own experiences of the observed phenomenon, in order to reduce potential bias during the interpretation stage, a process called “bracketing” [58,68]. Here, these principal researchers individually reflected on their own experiences, and wrote short essays about their personal impressions on teaching online during the COVID-19 pandemic, thus aiming to set aside their experiences, as much as possible, and to take fresh perspective toward the phenomenon under examination [15].
- Researchers PR1 and PR2 independently read interview transcripts multiple times. During the reading, relevant content units were identified, marked, and extracted by both of them separately. All of these “significant statements” were observed as having an equal value, without any judgement or value attribution, being perceived as parts of the same “horizon” of the phenomenon, which is a process named “horizontalization” [68], crucial for phenomenological analysis. Similar “significant statements” have been identified as repeating ideas [70], and they were written in the third person (for example, three similar statements: “at the start of the semester I felt enthusiastic, but a few months later I felt drained”, “as the semester unfolded I had less and less motivation to work”, “the initial optimism soon gave way to some form of apathy” have been identified as the following idea: “Teachers’ levels of motivation decrease during the semester”). This step resulted in lists of relevant, non-repetitive, and non-overlapping ideas of all participants from the same study.
- The identified ideas were then grouped into larger meaningful units called “themes” by employing axial coding, where each axis gathers around itself ideas of similar meaning [71] (for clarification, in other types of qualitative analysis these meaningful units are also named “codes”, “categories” or “indices” [72]). This was achieved by writing all of the identified ideas on “sticky notes”, and then by arranging them on different axis based on their thematic similarities, thus forming “clusters of meaning” [15] p. 61 (for example, three similar ideas: “Teachers’ levels of work engagement decrease as the semester unfolds”, “Lack of feedback and students’ engagement is detrimental for teachers’ work morale”, and “Teachers have a lot of enthusiasm at the start of the semester” have been clustered on the theme “Motivation decreases the semester unfolds”). Researchers PR1 and PR2 conducted this step independently from each other.
- Researcher PR3, the one that did not participate in the previous two steps, had then compared, combined, and unified reports on themes from the first two researchers, reconciling the differences and finding mutual patterns. Then, PR1 and PR2 together commented on the PR3′s work, which resulted in the final list of themes that were identified from the interviews, together with the associated ideas.
- Using segments of identified themes that talk about participants’ thoughts, feelings, impressions, and ideas that “portray what comprises an experience” [68] (p. 44), a description of “what” the participants in the study experienced with the phenomenon was written within every theme, explaining what happened to the participants and how they felt about it—producing what is in phenomenology known as “textural description”.
- Using segments of identified themes that allow for insights into the dynamics, surroundings, conditions, place, and various external factors, a description of “how” the experience happened within the phenomenon was written related to every theme, describing the setting and context in which the phenomenon was experienced, which resulted in what is in phenomenology known as “structural description”.
- A “composite description” of the phenomenon was written by incorporating both the textural and structural descriptions, producing the description of the “essence” of the experience.
4.2.2. Validation of Studies’ Results
5. Results
5.1. Study 1—Engineering Students
5.1.1. Identified Themes—What Did the Students Experience and How Did These Experiences Happen
- Theme 1: Self-discipline, motivation, and workflow
- Theme 2: Learning experience and outcomes
- Theme 3: Affective reactions
- Theme 4: Peer communication and lack of social interaction
- Theme 5: Support by the teaching staff
- Theme 6: Attention and active engagement during a class
- Theme 7: Hoping to return to classrooms soon
5.1.2. Composite Description—The Essence of Being Involved in PERT as an Engineering Student
5.2. Study 2—The Teachers
5.2.1. Identified Themes—What Did the Teachers Experience and How Did These Experiences Happen
- Theme 1: Motivation decreases the semester unfolds
- Theme 2: Having to adapt and overcome, accepting the inevitable
- Theme 3: Feeling uncomfortable due to the lack of any visual feedback while talking
- Theme 4: Students’ active participation as the most important motivation and work satisfaction factor
- Theme 5: Work pressure was significantly experienced due to various challenges
- Theme 6: Remote teaching has some benefits
- Theme 7: Communication with the students during the class
- Theme 8: Nostalgia and hoping that things will soon return to normal
5.2.2. Composite Description—The Essence of Being Involved in PERT as a Teacher in an Engineering Curriculum
5.3. Benchmarking PERT Sustainability
6. Discussion and Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A. Study 1. Engineering Students’ Verbatim Examples
- Theme 1: Self-discipline, motivation, and workflow
- Theme 2: Learning experience and outcomes
- Theme 3: Affective reactions
- Theme 4: Peer communication and lack of social interaction
- Theme 5: Support by the teaching staff
- Theme 6: Attention and active engagement during a class
- Theme 7: Hoping to return to classrooms soon
Appendix B. Study 2. The Teachers’ Verbatim Examples
- Theme 1: Motivation decreases the semester unfolds
- Theme 2: Having to adapt and overcome, accepting the inevitable
- Theme 3: Feeling uncomfortable, due to the lack of any visual feedback while talking
- Theme 4: Students’ active participation as the most important motivation and work satisfaction factor
- Theme 5: Work pressure was significantly experienced due to various challenges
- Theme 6: Remote teaching does have some benefits
- Theme 7: Communication with the students during the class
- Theme 8: Nostalgia and hoping that things will soon return to normal
Appendix C
Students | Teachers |
---|---|
Technical aspects (internet, devices used) | Technical aspects (internet, devices used) |
Physical location | Physical location |
Positive aspects of learning online | Positive aspects of teaching online |
How the teachers explain | How the teaching process develops |
What makes them engaged | Issues regarding students’ engagement |
Self-discipline | Motivation and organization of work |
Absorbed knowledge | Teaching outcomes |
Stress | Stress |
Communication problems | Communication problems |
Feeling of nostalgia | Feeling of nostalgia |
Thematic units that did not match in both studies | |
Peer communication | — |
Teachers’ support | — |
— | New challenges on how to teach |
— | Technical support from the institution |
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Sample Property | % of the Sample * | n | |
---|---|---|---|
Gender | Male | 53.5% | 23 |
Female | 46.5% | 20 | |
Employed | Yes | 32.6% | 14 |
No | 67.4% | 29 | |
Year of study | 1st | 11.6% | 5 |
2nd | 11.6% | 5 | |
3rd | 16.3% | 7 | |
4th | 20.9% | 9 | |
1st Master’s | 37.2% | 16 | |
1st PhD | 2.3% | 1 | |
study Programs | Information Systems Engineering | 44.2% | 19 |
Computing and Control Engineering | 18.6% | 8 | |
Electronics, Energetics and Telecommunications | 14.0% | 6 | |
Applied Software Engineering | 4.7% | 2 | |
Industrial Engineering | 2.3% | 1 | |
Biomedical Engineering | 2.3% | 1 | |
Engineering Management | 2.3% | 1 | |
Information Systems Engineering | 2.3% | 1 | |
Geodesy and Geomatics | 2.3% | 1 | |
Mechatronics | 2.3% | 1 | |
Software Engineering and IT | 2.3% | 1 | |
Architecture and Urbanism | 2.3% | 1 |
Sample Property | % of the Sample * | n | |
---|---|---|---|
Gender | Male | 56.0% | 14 |
Female | 40.0% | 10 | |
Undisclosed | 4.0% | 1 | |
Position | Full Professor | 16.0% | 4 |
Associate Professor | 36.0% | 9 | |
Assistant Professor | 12.0% | 3 | |
Teaching Assistant | 32.0% | 8 | |
Undisclosed | 4.0% | 1 | |
Study programs taught in (any teacher may teach in more than one study program) | Industrial Engineering | 17.0% | 9 |
Mechatronics | 15.1% | 8 | |
Engineering Management | 13.2% | 7 | |
Mechanical Engineering | 11.3% | 6 | |
Information Systems Engineering | 7.5% | 4 | |
Information Engineering | 5.7% | 3 | |
Software Engineering and IT | 5.7% | 3 | |
Computing and Control Engineering | 5.7% | 3 | |
Traffic and Transport Engineering | 3.8% | 2 | |
Applied Software Engineering | 3.8% | 2 | |
Biomedical Engineering | 1.9% | 1 | |
Clean Energy Technologies | 1.9% | 1 | |
Architecture | 1.9% | 1 | |
Applied Computer Sciences | 1.9% | 1 | |
Geodesy and Geomatics | 1.9% | 1 | |
Undisclosed | 1.9% | 1 |
Dimensions of Sustainable E-Learning Systems * | Perspective | Positive Aspect | Negative Aspect |
---|---|---|---|
Human—Individual needs should be protected and supported with dignity | Student | Online communication 1on1 | Individuality is lost during classes |
Teacher | More privacy and working from home | Lack of clear distinction between professional and private life | |
Social—Relationships of people within society should be equitable, diverse, connected and democratic | Student | No data for most | Lack of peer communication |
Teacher | No data for most | Lack of feedback from the other side, poor interaction | |
Technical—Technology must cope with changes and evolution in a fair manner, respecting natural resources | Student | Learning platform available on all devices, teaching materials and class recordings allow for individual pacing | Overwhelmed with technology |
Teacher | All materials and data on one platform | High dependence on technology to deliver teaching content | |
Environmental—Natural resources have to be protected from human needs and wastes | Student | Less commuting | No data for most |
Teacher | Less commuting | No data for most | |
Economic dimensions—A positive economic value and capital should be ensured and preserved | Student | Less expenses due to distance learning | Less worth in gained knowledge |
Teacher | No data for most | Unable to fully deliver knowledge that is appreciated |
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Vrgović, P.; Pekić, J.; Mirković, M.; Anderla, A.; Leković, B. Prolonged Emergency Remote Teaching: Sustainable E-Learning or Human Capital Stuck in Online Limbo? Sustainability 2022, 14, 4584. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084584
Vrgović P, Pekić J, Mirković M, Anderla A, Leković B. Prolonged Emergency Remote Teaching: Sustainable E-Learning or Human Capital Stuck in Online Limbo? Sustainability. 2022; 14(8):4584. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084584
Chicago/Turabian StyleVrgović, Petar, Jasmina Pekić, Milan Mirković, Andraš Anderla, and Bojan Leković. 2022. "Prolonged Emergency Remote Teaching: Sustainable E-Learning or Human Capital Stuck in Online Limbo?" Sustainability 14, no. 8: 4584. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14084584