CONTEXT MATTERS: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LECTURERS’ REFLECTIONS ON ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

TitleCONTEXT MATTERS: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS EDUCATION LECTURERS’ REFLECTIONS ON ONLINE TEACHING AND LEARNING DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2020
AuthorsSingh-Pillay, A, Naidoo, J
JournalJournal of Baltic Science Education
Volume19
Issue6A
Start Page1125-1136
PaginationContinuous
Date PublishedDecember/2020
Type of ArticleOriginal article
ISSN1648-3898
Other NumbersE-ISSN 2538-7138
Keywordslearning style, online teaching and learning, pandemic, reflections, WhatsApp
Abstract

To limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus conditions of lockdown were enforced by countries globally. Universities and schools revised the mode of delivery from contact teaching to online teaching and learning. This qualitative research was conducted at one university in South Africa and explored STEM discipline lecturers’ reflections on the use of online technologies and the factors which enable or constrain online teaching and learning. Three lecturers from STEM disciplines involved in online teaching were purposively selected to participate in this study. Data were generated via semi-structured interviews and reflective journals. The findings reveal that lecturers supplement the use of Moodle and Zoom with WhatsApp, the factor that enabled online teaching was the availability of data to lecturers and students. In contrast, the factors that constrained online teaching and learning were the technical training received for online teaching, the mismatch between pedagogy and students’ learning styles, the pressure of balancing work-home life and assumptions made about the availability of conducive home environments for learning, connectivity, and availability of devices for online learning. These findings have implications for professional development for online teaching and recommend that universities adopt WhatsApp to be a formal platform for online teaching and learning.

URLhttp://oaji.net/articles/2021/987-1613414714.pdf
DOI10.33225/jbse/20.19.1125
Refereed DesignationRefereed
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