Last modified: 2021-02-15
Abstract
Emergency Remote Teaching, the act of teaching at a distance during a crisis, is a less studied field than traditional remote or online learning. However, during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in March 2020, many colleges and universities physically closed and implemented Emergency Remote Teaching to continue the spring semester. As the practice of Emergency Remote Teaching will continue in varying degrees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, it is valuable to understand the preferences and needs of students in order to deliver effective education. With this in mind, undergraduate students at Graham School of Business, York College of Pennsylvania were surveyed on their preference of Emergency Remote Teaching delivery method and frequency of virtual sessions. For the combination of flexibility and support provided, the preponderance of students preferred hybrid methods of delivery, which combined traditional online methods of asynchronous and synchronous methods. For similar reasons, the students preferred a moderate amount of virtual sessions, as opposed to virtual sessions for all classes, or none at all. These preferences were found to be both statistically significant and unaffected by the independent variables of working or the volume of classes taken. At the same time, these preferences were found to be somewhat disconnected with the methods of delivery provided by the respective instructors. Overall, this study builds upon previous research in the field of Emergency Remote Teaching which reflects the student preference for a combination of flexibility and support. Furthermore, it provides relevant insight into the ongoing practice of Emergency Remote Teaching and provides areas for future study that may contribute to improving the efficacy of this necessary practice as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.