UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF TEACHING QUALITY BEFORE AND AFTER THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Satu Tuomainen

Abstract


Teaching quality refers to the level of teaching practices, delivery, content and methods and it is often viewed subjectively by various stakeholders in education, including students. The aim of this study, applying a phenomenographic approach, was to replicate a study conducted before the Covid-19 pandemic with master students in Finland. Applying a similar process and participants, the study aimed to explore whether students’ perceptions of teaching quality had altered after the Covid-19 increase in online teaching and learning. Three main themes arose from the interview data: teaching quality as clarity, teaching quality as engagement, and teaching quality as either online teaching or contact teaching. These themes differ from the pre-Covid themes in which teaching quality was associated with pedagogical professionalism, personal qualities of the teacher and the general learning environment. It can be inferred that the increased online modes and environments in higher education in Finland have had an impact on students and what they perceive as teaching quality. Teaching is also increasingly viewed through the personal experiences of the students, both positive and negative, and an emotional reaction to teaching and learning was also evident in the post-Covid data.

 

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student perceptions; university teaching; phenomenography; online teaching; higher education

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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v10i7.4863

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