Finnish university physics teachers’ experiences of transferring to online teaching due to COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic arguably caused the most rapid and extensive educational reform ever witnessed. This article addresses the challenges, possibilities, and consequences that the pandemic has set for Finnish physics university teachers. The data were gathered with a literature-based online survey consisting of Likert scale claims and open-ended questions related to the following themes: the use of technology, interaction, learning and evaluation, experimental working, and the future. In 2021, the survey was distributed to all Finnish universities where physics is taught, and 52 responses were received. The results show the biggest challenges were related to the different aspects of interaction, experimental working, and adjusting evaluation. The opportunities were less recognized but the versatility and flexibility of instruction and the use of technology in the evaluation became apparent in the teachers’ responses. The consequences of pandemic time for physics teaching and learning were seen rather negatively, even if a majority of teachers intended to change their old teaching practices in the future. The results indicate that university teachers need more discipline-based pedagogical support for enhancing learning, interaction, and well-being as the physics instruction likely gets more versatile after the pandemic.