2
TOPICAL REFERENCE LIST
Abstract
Throughout history, and recently due to the Covid-19 pandemic, almost all higher educational
institutions had to switch from a fully face-to-face to a hybrid, or fully online educational format.
Not only did students have difficulties in the transition, so did higher educational instructors.
Instructors from institutions from around the world had to change their teaching philosophy, in
an instant, to accommodate for the lack of in-person teaching. Many students and instructors
experienced a difficult transition but had to adapt to continue their educational journeys. Students
found that they had problems staying attentive and creating discussions; low-income families had
a reduced amount of access to home educational resources, had lower GPAs, and their
enthusiasm to finish coursework was adversely impacted; students displayed emotional
detachment and increased stress, over 2/3 of the students said they suffered heightened
educational challenges, ½ of the students said they had inadequate technology and 1/3 had
reduced access to the internet, communication with students during an online class was very
problematic and was not fully supported by students, they achieved lower grades, there was a
lack of student socialization and communication-related concerns, and they felt online learning
created logistical obstacles. Educators has similar problems adapting to the fully online format.
The educators experienced issues including the nature of remote teaching, content delivery and
limitations, teaching styles, online assessment methods, students’ interests and differences,
feeling lost, anxious, they felt essential competencies could not be gained online, complications
supervising students during exams due to the lack of proper tools needed, had to adjust to student
issues, and educators needed to develop a new set of talents that were different than that of face-
to-face classroom teaching. While online education is becoming more popular, there is still a lot
of transition that needs to take place for students and educators to feel the same benefits of online
education compared to traditional in person face-to face education.
3
TOPICAL REFERENCE LIST
Introduction
Many colleges and universities originate from an extensive practice of values and
traditions going all the way back to a number of the United States founding institutions of higher
learning such as Yale and Harvard Universities. One of the major traditions is attending classes
in person, at a college or university. As time moves forward, and students’ needs change, so must
these educational institutions. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, about 60% (11.2
million) of college students pursued at least one class online (Welding, 2023). Online college
classes are becoming increasingly widespread, and it is becoming easier for non-traditional
students to earn a degree online. As students decide to earn their degree, they must consider if
online higher education learning is as effective and beneficial as traditional in person learning at
the college level. Specifically, if students who take online classes can learn and retain as much
information and get the same grades while attending online classes versus in-person classes.
4
TOPICAL REFERENCE LIST
References
Al Abiky, W.,B. (2021). Lessons learned for teacher education: Challenges of teaching online
classes during COVID-19, What can pre-service teachers tell us?Revista Argentina De
Clínica Psicológica,30(2), 110. https://doi.org/10.24205/03276716.2020.411
This article is a mixed study. The current study tried to identify the difficulties
facing English teachers while teaching online classes during the Covid-19
pandemic. The study found there are six important challenges faced by English
teachers. The nature of remote teaching, content delivery and limit, teaching styles,
online assessment methods, and students’ interests and differences. The teachers
felt lost, anxious, and entered a survival stage.
Alías, G., Sendrós, A., Aulinas, M., Bordonau, J., Domènech, C., Masana, E., & Martín-Martín,
J. D. (2023). The impact of online teaching on geology degree programs during COVID-
19: A case study from the University of Barcelona (Spain). Journal of Geoscience
Education, 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10899995.2023.2165858
This article is a mixed study. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic online teaching
impacted degree programs in Geology. This study revealed the strengths,
weaknesses, and opportunities of online teaching and learning. It addressed surveys
for teachers and students to help investigate the effects of online teaching on
learning. The study showed that both teachers and students benefit from online
activities and the gain of new skills. However, some felt that essential competencies
cannot be gained online. Also, students had problems staying attentive and creating
discussions, while instructors had complications supervising students during exams
due to the lack of proper tools needed. Also grading policies had to be changed due
to the online nature of the class.
Errisuriz, V. L., Villatoro, A. P., & McDaniel, M. D. (2022). Contextualizing the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the educational experiences and outcomes of Latinx College
students in Texas. Journal of Latinos and Education, 21(3), 319–334.
https://doi.org/10.1080/15348431.2022.2052294
5
TOPICAL REFERENCE LIST
This article is a quantitative study. It applied data from the COVID-19 Texas
College Student Experiences Survey to measure the influence of Covid-19 on
Latinx college students in Texas including their educational understandings and
outcomes, observations about institutional resources, coursework results and
practices, and home educational settings. Latinx students from low-income families
had a reduced amount of access to home educational resources, had lower GPAs,
and their enthusiasm to finish coursework was adversely impacted contrasted to
higher-income students.
Goldman, J., & Bell, S. (2022). Student and faculty coping and impacts on academic success in
response to COVID-19.Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education,11(1), 74.
This article is a mixed study. This study investigated how faculty and students
contrasted with their managing of relentless stress due to the COVID-19 pandemic
and how this stress influenced student academic accomplishment. In this study, 103
students and faculty communicated their coping mechanisms during the pandemic.
Student grade statistics from midterms and final course grades were gathered to
calculate academic success. Results of the study found that students were more
likely than faculty to participate in maladaptive coping strategies, explicitly
emotional detachment. These conclusions had theoretical and practical
consequences for teaching in higher education including a reflection of how
students handle serious stress compared to faculty and how it influences
educational accomplishment.
Herder, L. (2021). Report: The pivot to remote learning increased challenges for two-thirds of
students.MDiverse Issues in Higher Education,M38(12),
8. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A679851732/BIC?
u=vic_liberty&sid=summon&xid=981e4619
This article is a mixed study. This report issued by the American College Testing
(ACT), surveyed 1,164 students who started their first year of college in the 2019-
2020 academic year. Its purpose was to identify how the change to online education
changed students' identified achievements and challenges, as well as their retention
and determination. Over 2/3 of the students said they suffered heightened
educational challenges due to the pandemic. Those who faced the biggest
difficulties were first-generation and low-income students. Nearly ½ of the students
questioned said they had inadequate technology and 1/3 had reduced access to the
internet. Many students stated that if colleges and universities do not focus on the
added stressors and difficulties of online learning, then many students may drop out
of college.
6
TOPICAL REFERENCE LIST
Manierre, M. J., DeWaters, J., Rivera, S., & Whalen, M. (2022). An exploration of engineering
instructors’ pedagogical adaptations early in the COVID‐19 pandemic. Journal of
Engineering Education, 111(4), 889–911. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20483
This article is a qualitative study. This study explored how six engineering
instructors changed their teaching during the shift to online teaching. Pedagogical
changes were adapted course-wide to improve issues or personal responses to
student toils on a case-by-case basis were employed. Instructors' decisions to adjust
to student issues were greatly hindered by their perception of duty to continue
professional standards, the legitimacy of grades, and their prevailing technological
expertise and course model.
Martadinata, R.E. (2024). Exploring challenges and strategies for online classroom interaction.
JALL (Journal of Applied Linguistics and Literacy), 8(1), 26.
https://doi.org/10.25157/jall.v8i1.12635
This article is a qualitative study. This study explored how communication with
students during an online class is more problematic to create or is not fully
supported by students. This online study was conducted to discover potential
challenges in designing collaborative learning activities as well as approaches to
enhancing classroom communication. This study also found that one of the most
important attributes in establishing student performance and knowledge during
online learning is motivation.
Pollock, N. B. (2022). Student performance and perceptions of anatomy and physiology across
face-to-face, hybrid, and online teaching lab styles. AJP Advances in Physiology
Education, 46(3), 453–460. https://doi.org/10.1152/advan.00074.2022
This article is a quantitative study. Due to the amplified demand for anatomy and
physiology courses for health science programs, hybrid-style labs are crucial to
meet the heightened enrollment without expanding the need for lab space and
compromising instructive superiority. There is a lack of research that conducts the
attendance, practical grades, and total scores comparing face-to-face, hybrid, and
online A&P labs. Students who attended hybrid labs stated they had better
experiences and larger satisfaction, attended more labs, and surpassed online lab
students. Face-to-face lab students achieved better grades than hybrid lab students.
7
TOPICAL REFERENCE LIST
Qi, Q., Liao, L., & Zhao, C. G. (2021). I didn't even know if my students were in class:
Challenges of teaching English speaking online.Journal of Asia TEFL,18(4), 1455-1462.
https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-
journals/i-didnt-even-know-if-my-students-were-class/docview/2622894677/se-2
This article is a qualitative study. This study found that in order to teach language
online, educators need to develop a new set of talents that are different than that of
face-to-face classroom teaching. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, educators found
themselves underprepared, mentally and academically for this abrupt change to
teach language entirely online. They had many challenges and found ways to cope
with technical breakdowns and anxiety, a sense of alienation and lack of
spontaneous interaction, and an unsuitable offline instructional activity for online
use.
Salarvand, S., Mousavi, M., & Rahimi, M. (2023). Communication and cooperation challenges
in the online classroom in the COVID-19 era: A qualitative study.BMC Medical
Education,23, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-023-04189-1
This article is a qualitative study. This study described health profession educators’
and students’ encounters concerning the negative issues of communication and
cooperation in online classes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study found
there was a lack of student socialization and communication-related concerns. Also,
there were flaws in teacher instruction due to the abrupt transition to online
education. The contributors faced challenges in their class activities which lead to a
decline in trust, a deficiency of inspiration to learn, and teachers’ teaching.
Sekar, A., Vithal, G. A., Chinnaraju, N., & Shanmugam, J. (2024). A study on challenges and
perceptions of schoolteachers towards online classes during COVID 19 pandemic.
National Board of Examinations Journal of Medical Sciences, 2(2).
https://doi.org/10.61770/nbejms.2023.v02.i02.003
This article is a mixed study. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, India was forced to
switch to online education. This rapid shift on education created challenges for
teachers inexperienced with e-learning methods, imposing a paradigm shift in
teaching methods. While online classrooms created logistical obstacles, they also
8
TOPICAL REFERENCE LIST
provoked advances like state-run education TV channels and doorstep instructional
schemes. The study detected age-associated observations in instructors in reference
to online teaching challenges and found there to be no clear association between
age and health issues due to the increased screen time of online students.
Welding, L. (2023). Online learning statistics. BestColleges.com.
https://www.bestcolleges.com/research/online-learning-statistics/
This is a quantitative article. This report shows the statistics of online education. It
includes fully online colleges and distance learning options for on-campus
programs. It expresses how college students feel about online education.
9
TOPICAL REFERENCE LIST
General Theme
Throughout all of the studies, one of the general themes is the difficulties involved with
transitioning from in person face-to-face higher education instruction to a hybrid or fully online
platform especially due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Both students and instructors faced
challenges both physically and mentally during and because of the transition. These challenges
not only affected students emotionally, but they also altered students’ grades and overall GPAs.
Instructors also faced several challenges in the transition. They had to become open minded and
creative to shift from in person classes to online without sacrificing student success and
motivation. Unfortunately, because of this drastic change, both students and instructors suffered
drastically, and the quality of online education, to this day, can be debated as inferior to in person
face-to-face higher education.
Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
