Abstract:

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a lasting impact on pedagogical approaches utilized in education. Pedagogical approaches typically refer to the methods, practices and strategies of an instructor used to engage students in course activities to promote student learning. The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the challenges in pedagogical approaches experienced by college and university faculty and the lessons learned while emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most overarching challenges faced by instructors included unpreparedness, difficulty in course design, delivery, and assessments, and maintaining student interaction and engagement within the course. Instructors in academia were not prepared to redesign non-traditional virtual courses that utilized the best pedagogical practices for online teaching. Faculty were unaware of the most effective pedagogical practices and technology tools for teaching online. Lack of student interaction and engagement negatively impacted teaching and students’ performance. Findings indicate the continuous need for research and professional development and training for instructors on effective pedagogical approaches and educational technologies that allow students to interact with the content, activities, instructors, and other students in online learning spaces.

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