Date
5-16-2024
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy in Education (PhD)
Chair
Susan Quindag
Keywords
COVID-19, Emergency Remote Teaching, online education, online teaching, online pedagogy, higher education, crisis plan, burnout
Disciplines
Education
Recommended Citation
Peterson, Judith M., "The Experience of University Academics with Emergency Remote Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020: A Phenomenological Study" (2024). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 5557.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/5557
Abstract
The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of academics at the university level with emergency remote teaching during the 2020-2021 COVID-19 pandemic. The theory guiding this study was Milheim, K. L. (2012) application of Maslow, A. H. (1943) hierarchy of needs. The central research question was: How did academics at the university level experience transitioning their course and teaching online during emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021? Eleven lecture academics were selected from six universities from the University of Wisconsin System who transitioned their residence courses to online during the pandemic. I used three methods to collect data: semi-structured individual videoconference interviews, e-journals, and videoconference focus group interviews to provide triangulation of evidence and validate data accuracy. The themes that emerged were overtime, relationships, burnout/stress, technical struggles, digital divide, and outliers. The study found that the universities and participants were not prepared to transition online causing academics to burnout. The first recommendation was to continue studying the experiences of university academics with emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 from other parts of the United States. The second recommendation was to study the lived experiences of instructors who taught hands-on type of courses such as art, music, and science labs. The third recommendation was to study what consequences the COVID-19 pandemic had on higher education. The fourth recommendation is to study the phenomenon of students becoming quiet for two years after being in isolation and wearing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic.
