An exploration of engineering instructors' pedagogical adaptations early in the COVID‐19 pandemic

Abstract

Background: Many instructors made an emergency shift to online teaching during the Spring 2020 semester. There is reason to expect that instructors would have dramatically changed their pedagogy and teaching philosophies.At the same time, there are reasons that engineering instructors might be hesitant to introduce some changes to their courses.Purpose/Hypothesis: This study explores pedagogical and philosophical adaptations using instructors' accounts of emergency remote teaching during the Spring 2020 semester.Design/Method: In-depth interviews with six engineering instructors were conducted to examine their teaching experiences and the way they responded to the online transition. Interview transcripts were analyzed for general themes and commonalities.Results: Instructors made many changes during the transition, some of which were general and others individualized after a problem came to their attention. However, other changes were uncommon or even avoided, in particular, reducing content difficulty and shifting their teaching philosophies. Our interviews suggest several explanations for their choices, including the degree to which course design rendered change unnecessary, or the influence of the instructors' existing skillset, their desire to protect the validity of grades, and their sense of the scope of engineering pedagogy.Conclusions: These interviews contribute to our understanding of how the emergency transition to online teaching impacted engineering instructors and how instructors might improve resilience during future crises. The conceptual tools and thought processes elucidated by this study can inform future analyses. Further research should pursue comparisons with other disciplines and consider the long-term effects of pandemic teaching.

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