Student teachers’ agency in the transition to emergency online learning

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted during the transition to emergency online learning, imposed by the spread of a worldwide pandemic known as COVID-19. The study aimed to examine the factors that influenced student agency during this sudden transition to synchronous online learning in the College of Education at Qatar University. By adopting a mixed methods research design, a total of 202 student teachers responded to a newly developed survey which explored four factors known to influence agency, and provided numerical data on their perceptions towards these factors. Results indicated a three-factor structure, namely: motivation and self-efficacy beliefs; self-regulated learning; and socio-cultural support. Following initial quantitative analysis, nine student teachers were recruited to engage in in-depth interviews. Qualitative analysis supported the theoretical framework of the factors influencing student agency, and further provided a nuanced understanding of the particularities involved in the way these factors were manifested within this novel context. Implications of the findings on the future implementation of emergency online learning are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Student agency
• student teachers
• motivation
• self-efficacy beliefs
• self-regulated learning
• socio-cultural support
• Qatar

Acknowledgments

Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Youmen Chaaban

Youmen Chaaban, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Education, Azm University in Lebanon. Her research interests include teacher professional development, project-based learning, and English language teaching and learning. Dr. Youmen has several research publications in international journals, including original research conducted in Lebanon and Qatar. She has also been actively involved in a number of teacher preparation programmes, where she held the positions of instructional coach, head of department, and curriculum coordinator.

Saba Qadhi

Saba Qadhi, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the College of Education at Qatar University. She graduated from the University of Reading in 2018, and has since delivered undergraduate and postgraduate level programmes, including Management of School Information Systems and Second Language Acquisition, teacher education, and Continual Professional Development. Saba’s PhD thesis addressed the seeming disconnect between female English language teachers’ CPD experiences and the pedagogical demands of their new roles in a rapidly changing national and global context. Dr. Saba works as a professional development specialist at Qatar University. Her main job is to tailor individual PD plans for teachers believing that ‘one size does not fit all’ and developing, by means of appropriate CPD, the notion of a professional identity within a collaborative professional community.

Xiangyun Du

Xiangyun Du, Ph.D. is a Professor at the Education Research Center, College of Qatar University, and a Professor at Aalborg University UNESCO Centre for Problem and Project Based Learning, Denmark. Her main research interests include pedagogical development, particularly, problem-based and project-based learning methods in fields ranging from engineering, medicine and health, and foreign language education, to diverse social, cultural and educational contexts. She has also engaged with educational institutions in over 20 countries in substantial work on pedagogy development. Professor Du has over 160 relevant international publications including monographs, international journal papers, edited books and book chapters, as well as conference contributions. She has also been actively involved in a number of international academic programmes, networks, and editorial works for journals.