It’s all relative: Changes in teachers’ knowledge and instruction during COVID-19

Abstract

In this convergent-parallel mixed-methods study, we explored the effect that teaching remotely during the first months of the pandemic had on teachers’ TPACK and how teachers leveraged their new and existing knowledge to facilitate remote instruction. Survey results indicated that teachers’ self-reported knowledge decreased across multiple TPACK subdomains, which is likely an indicator of teachers’ recalibration of their knowledge as they experienced a new instructional context. Findings from semi-structured interviews indicated that although instruction narrowed at times when teachers struggled to enact their knowledge in less-than-ideal circumstances, teachers were often able to successfully facilitate remote instruction.

Keywords:

• Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK)
• COVID-19 pandemic
• distance learning
• remote learning
• mixed methods

Additional information

Funding

The project was reviewed and approved by the University of South Dakota IRB. This work was supported by a grant from the School of Education Research Center at the University of South Dakota.

Notes on contributors

Daniel James Mourlam

Daniel James Mourlam, EdD, is an Associate Professor and Chair of Teacher Residency and Education at the University of South Dakota, where he is an active member of the Science of Learning Research Group. His research explores the connections among the various elements that influence and support educational technology integration and student learning in the classroom, including the knowledge and beliefs of K12 students, teacher candidates, and inservice teachers, K12 student well-being related to digital technologies and media use in their lives, and the structures and settings within which educator knowledge develops.

Daniel A. DeCino

Daniel A. DeCino, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Division of Counseling and Psychology in Education programs, in the School of Education at the University of South Dakota (USD). He is a former school counselor and currently a counselor educator and supervisor in the counseling programs at USD. His research interests include qualitative methodologies, school counseling, and counselor education and supervision.

Steven R. Chesnut

Steven R. Chesnut, PhD, is an associate professor in the Nursing PhD program at the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). He is the biostatistician for the School of Nursing and Health Studies at UMKC and an Executive Editor for Teaching and Teacher Education. His research interests include the development and application of statistical techniques in emerging academic fields, teacher development and longevity, and early childhood development and achievement using primary, secondary, and meta data.

Gabrielle A. Strouse

Gabrielle A. Strouse, PhD, is an associate professor of Human Development and Educational Psychology at the University of South Dakota, where she is an active member of the Science of Learning Research Group and the Center for Brain and Behavior Research. Her research focuses on understanding how adults can best support young children’s learning in mediated contexts, such as from picture books, e-books, and videos, as well as how to create more supportive children’s media.

Ryan Los

Ryan Los, PhD, is a research associate at the Center for the Advancement of Teaching and Learning at the University of Manitoba. His primary area of research is to further understand the interaction between student and instructor, specifically in terms of motivation and teaching strategies, in an effort to ensure that instructors are creating significant learning experiences that allow students to reach their full academic potential.

Lisa A. Newland

Lisa Newland, Ph.D., is a Full Professor of Human Development and Educational Psychology in the School of Education at the University of South Dakota. Her research agenda focuses on the intersection between family mental health and well-being, parenting, and child well-being in culturally and socio-economically diverse families. She focuses her work on children’s social-emotional and cognitive well-being, and the factors that support optimal development in childhood. With the Science of Learning Research Group, she also explores children’s learning and well-being in school and other contexts, and the role of digital technology in children’s lives.