How Uni Queensland teachers copped COVID-19

A major study of teaching in plague sets what happened and what will follow  

 Kelly Matthews, Gwendolyn Lawrie and Nantana Taptamat used a staff survey and case studies to “provide a snapshot of the UQ academic experience that can inform what teaching, learning and assessment look like post-pandemic.”

They found;

* time constraints forced a focus on taking plans for on-campus delivery and translating them on-line

*  academics relied on their discipline networks, course teaching teams – and students. While tech and teaching support teams helped, “proximity to people and resources mattered”

* with electronic course profiles already published, “the focus was on translating to on-line, instead of redesigning assessment tasks

* peer interaction and group work among students “dropped off” with academics focusing, “on student-teacher interactions.

What’s next;

* changed teaching practices “will likely be sustained” post pandemic

* fostering learning interactions both on-line and on-campus “should inform decisions about teaching modes and educational infrastructure”

*  changes in teaching and assessment practise (“anchored by authentic assessment,”) “will drive real change”

But technology will not do it all. “Growing the capacity of teaching staff should start by recognising the incredible changes thus far. The role of proximity of resources and new formulations of teaching teams to further grow post-pandemic teaching capacities warrant attention,” they write.

Their paper is here.

It builds on previous work by Associate Professor Matthews and colleagues on the pre-pandemic roll-out of blended-learning courses at an un-named “research intensive university” (CMM May 28).