“This Wasn’t Pedagogy, It Was Panicgogy”: Perspectives of the Challenges Faced by Students and Instructors during the Emergency Transition to Remote Learning Due to COVID-19

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the impact of the emergency transition to remote education (ETRE) during the COVID-19 pandemic on instructors and students through the lens of self-determination theory (SDT). A modified thematic analysis of narratives from a cross-sectional survey revealed eight themes: Sense of loss/grief, Role conflict, Helplessness, I had no choice, This felt impossible, Lost connections, Am I safe, and They don’t care about me. Sub-themes expound on their associated themes. Participant narratives shared feelings of trauma and crisis as they related experiences of higher education during the mandated global shutdown. The stories of these experiences are indicative of loss of autonomy, competence, and relatedness, tenets of self-determination. These experiences, for the majority of students, led to a loss of motivation to learn, participate, or produce meaningful work. For most instructors, the experiences led to a similar lassitude and frustration. The authors conclude that the experience of the ETRE negatively impacted both teaching and learning in the higher education setting. Recommendations include further development in higher education to support both instructors’ and students’ self-determination during catastrophic change.

Keywords:

• COVID-19
• emergency transition
• instructors
• qualitative
• self-determination
• students

Acknowledgments

The research consortium members thank the leadership at their respective institutions and specifically to the different centers of excellence in teaching and learning (CETLs) for the assistance with the dissemination of the survey and data gathering. In addition, the authors want to thank the reviewers for their thoughtful comments and commitment to the enhancement of the quality of this manuscript. And lastly, thanks are extended to Dr. Hailey Ormand for her intellectual support of the manuscript.

Data availability

Data is not available for public access.

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.