scholarly journals The Smart Education Paradigm: Expected Outcomes and Real-Life Student Experience

Discourse ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 94-107
Author(s):  
E. V. Strogetskaya ◽  
I. B. Betiger
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Sociological Study ◽  
Smart Education ◽  
Educational Paradigm ◽  
Sociology Of Higher Education

Introduction. The article examines the transition of higher education to the paradigm of smart education. The article presents the results of a sociological study, the purpose of which was to compare the real experience of online learning of students with the expected results from the implementation of the principles of the new digital educational paradigm.Methodology and sources. The principles of the economics of higher education, the institutional tradition of the sociology of higher education, and the theory of social representations were used as a methodological framework for the study.Results and discussion. The results of monitoring the satisfaction and self-assessment of the online learning experience of students of one of the leading technical universities in Russia are presented. The authors of the article revealed the interest and generally positive attitude of students, regardless of whether or not they have an appropriate educational experience in online learning. At the same time, the question remains whether at the present stage of digitalization of higher education its transition to the principles of the smart paradigm is being carried out.Conclusion. First, there is still no sufficient data on a significant increase in the effectiveness of educational activities. It is possible to record only an increase in student satisfaction with their academic performance. Secondly, there is a problem of self-organization of the system. Finally, the degree of readiness of students who have completed online training for independent production of knowledge and solving non-standard problems is not clear. Rather, on the contrary, the more difficult the mastered professional discipline becomes, the more students need the help of a teacher.

scholarly journals Teaching and Learning in Survival Mode: Students and Faculty Perceptions of Distance Education during the COVID-19 Lockdown

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8053
Author(s):  
Maram Meccawy ◽  
Zilal Meccawy ◽  
Aisha Alsobhi
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Negative Perception ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Online Distance Learning ◽  
Online Distance

(1) This study demonstrates how a Saudi university has responded to the COVID-19 lockdown in order to examine the success factors and highlight any challenges. The main purpose was to determine the perceptions of students and faculty towards emergency online distance learning from a teaching and learning perspective; (2) A cross-faculty study was conducted: two different self-administered questionnaires were developed for students and faculty, respectively. In addition, data was collected from official reports; (3) The results show that students had a more positive perception of e-Learning despite the difficulties that they may have faced, while faculty results leaned slightly towards a negative perception. However, there was not a definite positive or negative perception, depending on the aspect of teaching that was being evaluated. The study also indicated that faculty and students’ gender had no significant effect on their perceptions. Overall results showed that the university performed well in accordance with three of the five pillars of online learning quality framework in terms of student satisfaction, access and scalability. On the other, improvements are needed to achieve better results for faculty satisfaction and learning effectiveness; (4) The findings present a number of suggestions for increasing satisfaction to improve the online learning experience post COVID-19.

scholarly journals Increasing Access to Higher Education: A study of the diffusion of online teaching among 913 college faculty

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Shea ◽  
Alexandra Pickett ◽  
Chun Sau Li
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Faculty Satisfaction ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
Innovation Research ◽  
Discipline Area

<p>Online learning environments provide an unprecedented opportunity to increase student access to higher education. Accomplishing this much needed goal requires the active participation and cooperation of university faculty from a broad spectrum of institutional settings. Although online learning has seen rapid growth in recent years, it remains a relatively small percentage of the entire curriculum of higher education today. As a relatively recent development, online teaching can be viewed through the lens of diffusion of innovation research. This paper reports on research from 913 professors from community colleges, four-year colleges, and university centers in an attempt to determine potential barriers to the continued growth in adoption of online teaching in higher education. It is concluded through factor and regression analysis that four variables are significantly associated with faculty satisfaction and their likelihood, therefore, to adopt or continue online teaching – these include levels of interaction in their online course, technical support, a positive learning experience in developing and teaching the course, and the discipline area in which they taught. Recommendations for institutional policy, faculty development, and further research are included. </p> <p><b>Keywords: </b>online teaching, faculty satisfaction, faculty development, diffusion of innovation, access, higher education, study </p>

Quality of learning experience, student satisfaction and perceived overall experience in the COVID-19 context

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Venugopal Prabhakar Gantasala ◽  
Swapna Bhargavi Gantasala ◽  
Tareq Na'el Al Tawil ◽  
Prerana Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Online Courses ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Undergraduate Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Medical Programs

PurposeThe intention for this study was to explore any relationship that might exist between quality of learning experience (QLE), the second construct student satisfaction (SS) and the third construct perceived overall experience (POE) among undergraduate students within the higher education context. This study also attempts to explain the path direction between QLE, SS and POE.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers utilized structural equation modeling to analyze the variables considered for this study – QLE, SS and POE and for hypotheses testing. Respondents for this study were medical students' coordinators of the undergraduate level of medical colleges in the 28 states of India. Data collected for the study were possible by utilizing a questionnaire that was emailed to these student coordinators. The emailing effort returned 198 (n) filled questionnaires (complete) representing 198 institutions offering undergraduate-level medical programs out of a total of 542 institutions that offer undergraduate medical programs.FindingsFindings from this study confirm the relationship between QLE with SS, and PLE. Interestingly, the findings established a significant relationship between SS and POE.Practical implicationsDecision-makers and administrators of higher education institutions (HEIs) can utilize the findings from this study to focus on strengthening important elements of QLE in ways that positively impact SS and POE of students taking online courses and program offerings. The study reiterates the importance of course content, course structure, lecture-delivery quality, instructor mentoring and student-instructor interactions on SS and POE. The role of SS in reinforcing confirmation, perceived usefulness, perceived openness of the online courses and the perceived reputation was established. This relationship is key to administrators while they focus on improving SS and building on the institutions' reputation in addition to their efforts to support marketing and enrollments during the pandemic.Originality/valueResearchers in the past have examined the relationships between QLE and another construct of this study – SS. Past research has also examined the relationship between QLE and POE. However, there is not enough research exploring the relationship between SS and POE. This study establishes the relationship between SS and POE that benefits decision-makers in higher education.

The Correlation between Servqual Dimensions and Student Satisfaction

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Nur Zihan Abd Rashid ◽  
Tuan Nur Athirah Nabilah Tuan Ismail ◽  
Bibianah Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Higher Education Institution ◽  
New Findings

Service quality is a very crucial element in ensuring the competitiveness of various institutions. By having a good service quality, the reputation of the organization will enhance and thus become their added competitive advantage. In higher education institution, service quality is important to ensure the students whom are their primary stakeholders are able to have a good learning experience in which will then influence their satisfaction. The primary objective of this paper is to analyze the correlation between five elements in SERVQUAL dimensions (tangibility, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy) and the student satisfaction. The questionnaires were distributed among the students in various faculties in UiTM Sabah by using convenience sampling technique and 250 questionnaires were managed to be collected for analysis. Overall, the result shows that the students are satisfied with service quality in UiTM Sabah. Specifically, all five SERVQUAL dimensions correlate with student satisfaction. Reliability, responsiveness and empathy dimensions have strong correlation with student satisfaction. Meanwhile, both tangibility and assurance have moderate correlation with student satisfaction. This study is hoped to contribute towards the new knowledge in the field of service quality especially in higher education institutions Future research is also proposed at the final section of this study to discover new findings from different perspectives of service quality. Keywords: servqual; students’ satisfaction; service quality; higher education institution; service delivery.

scholarly journals Graduate Students’ Experience and Academic Achievements with Online Learning during COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (23) ◽  
pp. 13055
Author(s):  
Halima Ahmed Omar ◽  
Eqlima Mohamad Ali ◽  
Shashidhar Belbase
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Graduate Studies ◽  
Online Distance Learning

Higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) adopted a distance/online learning approach during the COVID-19 pandemic in order to ensure that students were safe while they received an uninterrupted, high-quality education off-campus. This was the first time that all of the higher education institutions adopted this approach. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct this study to gain insight into graduate students’ experiences in distance learning and to verify whether these experiences are linked to their achievements. The purpose of this study was to examine graduate students’ experiences toward online and distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in the academic year 2020–2021 and their academic achievement. A questionnaire was developed for this study and sent online to graduate students’ emails with the coordination of the College of Graduate Studies at a higher education institution in the UAE. The study received 138 responses. The data was analyzed using IBMSPSS-26. The findings of the study showed that graduate students’ level of Engagement, ease of Communication, and quality of learning Experience with online/distance learning were related significantly to their overall academic achievement.

scholarly journals The Impact of Faculty Experience with Emergency Remote Teaching: An Interpretive Phenomenological Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Maha Al-Freih
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Student Engagement ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Impact

The aim of this phenomenological study is to provide a deeper understanding of the impact of remote teaching on instructors’ perceptions of online learning and future teaching practices amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze open-ended semi-structured interviews conducted with five higher education faculty in Saudi Arabia. Three major themes were identified: enhancing student engagement; increased awareness of technology affordances and constraints; and moving from emergency remote teaching to technology-enhanced and blended learning. Participants of this study were mainly concerned about finding ways to support active student engagement in this new learning environment, which in turn increased their awareness of the educational affordances and constraints of online learning and technologies. Participants’ deeper understanding of the potential of online technologies in supporting student learning, as well as their own and students’ increased familiarity and comfort with online learning and technologies, served as the main drivers for potential future implementation of blended learning and technology-enhanced teaching practices. With that said, participants were still apprehensive about engaging in fully online teaching, arguing that blended strategies and enhanced-technology integration are more likely to overcome some of the limitations of face-to-face teaching and improve the overall learning experience for their students. Discussion of these findings in relation to the extant literature and their implications for higher education institutions moving forward are provided.

scholarly journals Quality Assessment of Online Learning in Regional Higher Education Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 929-943
Author(s):  
Olga A. Gritsova ◽  
Elena V. Tissen
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Online Education ◽  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
Higher Education Systems

The quality of online learning mechanisms, widely implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is a significant issue for regional higher education systems. The research aims to assess student satisfaction with the quality of online education by identifying discrepancies between their requirements and the actual learning process. In order to examine the gaps between students’ expectations and perceptions, a new approach was proposed based on the integrated use of Gap analysis and SERVQUAL methodology, combining qualitative and quantitative aspects. SERVQUAL questionnaires for measuring student satisfaction with online learning include the following criteria: tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy. Full- and part-time undergraduates of humanitarian and socio-economic departments of two universities participated in the study. Ural Federal University bachelors, learning via Moodle and Microsoft Teams platforms, could directly communicate with their peers and professors, while students of National Research Nuclear University MEPhI were engaged in massive open online courses (MOOC). As a result, all five criteria were analysed in the proposed model for quality assessment of online learning to reveal the gaps between students’ expectations and perceptions of the educational process. Significant discrepancies in the «empathy» and «responsiveness» criteria in both groups demonstrate low student satisfaction with the quality of communication and individualisation of learning. The research findings can be used to construct resource allocation models for implementing educational programmes and developing support measures for regional higher education institutions.

scholarly journals The Development of Online Learning in Israeli Higher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erez Cohen ◽  
Nitza Davidovitch
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Student Satisfaction ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching Method ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Ministry Of Education ◽  
The World ◽  
Research Findings

The COVID-19 pandemic that swept through the world in 2020 and forced the various higher education institutions in Israel and around the world to promptly embrace the online teaching method, placed on the agenda the question of this method&rsquo;s efficacy as well as deliberations regarding its future implications. The current study reviews the development of online teaching in Israel&rsquo;s higher education and examines whether this development derives from an organized and well-formulated public policy with a view to the future or is the result of the constraints and various actors within the free market. In addition, the study presents a case study of an academic institution, examining the opinions of students with regard to the benefits and shortcomings of online teaching. The research findings indicate that the development of online teaching in Israel is the result of needs, constraints, and opportunities that emerged in the free market rather than a result of organized public policy by the Ministry of Education and the Council for Higher Education. Consequently, the study presents the various implications of these unregulated developments for the quality of teaching and for student satisfaction. The study illuminates a thorough discussion that should be conducted by movers of higher education and academic institutions concerning a new effective designation of the campuses following the COVID-19 crisis as well as the distinction between virtual and real-life dimensions of academic teaching.

scholarly journals Business Continuity Plan in the Higher Education Industry: University Students’ Perceptions of the Effectiveness of Academic Continuity Plans during Covid-19 Pandemic

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 51
Author(s):  
Ratneswary Rasiah ◽  
Harpaljit Kaur ◽  
Vinitha Guptan
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Management Skills ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Education Industry ◽  
Good Learning ◽  
Internet Connections ◽  
Higher Education Industry

The Covid-19 pandemic is one of the most disruptive, life-changing events that had brought the world to a perpetual standstill in 2020. Schools and institutions of higher education were impacted badly, resulting from the lockdowns and movement restrictions imposed by the governments of numerous countries. Students and faculty found themselves in virtual classrooms, with many caught unaware of what they needed to do, having to learn new things at lightning speed and feeling a sense of despair. While many online learners had frustrations and concerns regarding their online learning experience, there were those who had a good learning experience. The students’ observations and perceptions of the difficulties and opportunities they encountered in their online learning experience were assessed through grounded theory using textual thematic qualitative analysis of their reflective feedback. The findings reveal that most students had a good online learning experience and found that the academic continuity plans implemented by the universities were effective. The concerns that some students had with online learning were related to technological drawbacks such as poor internet connections, and personal concerns about academic ability and time management skills, among others. This study concludes by offering insights and recommendations to institutions, faculty, and students on how best to conduct online learning and teaching for all.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document