Browsing by Author "Fernandes, Joana"
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- Emergency remote teaching: perceptions in higher educationPublication . Silva, Cândida; Carvalho, Amélia; Peres, Paula; Fernandes, Joana; Silva, Susana; Lima, VandaAs we are all aware, during 2020, all over the world, most educational institutions were forced to confine due to COVID19. Within this pandemic context, academic activities were mostly provided by distance learning solutions. Such a transition to an emergency model, from face-to-face education to distance learning raised new challenges for students, lecturers and academic staff. The present study is particularly focused on lecturers’ perceptions, namely, it aims at analysing the levels of their satisfaction with teaching and assessment during the remote period, as well as analysing possible differences in the levels of satisfaction of instructors according to their career position, their tenure and the knowledge domain they teach. As for methodology, the research was based on a quantitative and qualitative approach. For the data collection, we gathered information from a questionnaire and from semi-structure interviews. The data were collected through an online questionnaire delivered during the period of June and July 2020, and a semi-structured interview conducted during September 2020. We obtained 547 answers to the questionnaire and 24 to the interviews. Results show that instructors with the highest career positions demonstrate the lowest levels of satisfaction with the way the lessons and the assessment were conducted during the remote teaching period. Although such a difference is not statistically significant, during the interviews, lecturers with lowest career positions also revealed more satisfaction with the teaching during pandemic and lecturers from highest professional categories mentioned lower satisfaction levels. Regarding satisfaction according to labour contract, part-time lecturers reported higher satisfaction levels with assessment and teaching experience than full-time lecturers. The results also revealed a statistically significant difference between part-time and full-time positions. Emergency remote teaching had a greater impact on full-time teachers. In the same fashion, qualitative interviews reinforce these data showing that full-time lecturers had more teaching and administrative workload and huge challenges when compared with the part-time lecturers. As for satisfaction, according to the knowledge domain, it was observed that lecturers in the domains of Technology and Management, Health, Accounting and Business, and Hospitality and Tourism were the most satisfied with Emergency Remote Teaching. The qualitative data demonstrate that major difficulties concerned a timely adaptation to acquire the technological skills required in remote teaching and an increase of the workload concerning class preparation. Nonetheless, the biggest challenges encountered were the lack of student’s interaction during the classes and the difficulty to redesign a fair and correct assessment for every subject, within a remote environment. To sum up, within the context of the first lockdown, we can conclude that the more experienced lecturers were the least satisfied with the teaching and the assessment. Furthermore, in more theoretical knowledge domains, the satisfaction level with the teaching and assessment experience was also more significant. These results reinforce the need to stabilise the teaching staff in the Higher Education Institutions and to develop new strategies and models for higher education.
- Higher education students’ perceptions of emergency remote teaching: degree levels and knowledge domainsPublication . Lima, Vanda; Silva, Susana; Silva, Cândida; Fernandes, Joana; Peres, PaulaThe COVID-19 pandemic generated a strong impact on Higher Education. In Portugal, the closure of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), in March 2020, led to a transformation of Traditional Education into Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT). This paper analyzes students’ perceptions concerning such a change in teaching and assessment methodologies and practices, considering the different degrees of education and the different knowledge domains. The research was developed at the Polytechnic Institute of Porto. The data were collected through an online questionnaire, during the period of June and July 2020. The sample obtained was of 1182 students. Results show relevant differences in the students’ satisfaction levels, considering the degree level and the knowledge domain. The most satisfied with the functioning of the classes and the assessment during ERT period were master's degree students and students from the areas of education, accounting and business, and hospitality and tourism, in contrast with the undergraduate students and students from the areas of media arts and design, engineering and technology, and management who showed lower levels of satisfaction. This research highlights the need for the development of policies and practices that promote the creation of smart learning environments for a better articulation between face-to-face and online teaching.
- Interacting with "zoomies": difficulties and challenges trough the eyes of lecturersPublication . Carvalho, Amélia; Lima, Vanda; Silva, Susana; Silva, Cândida; Fernandes, Joana; Peres, PaulaThe COVID-19 pandemic period has had a massive impact on educational environments, and Higher Education has not been an exception. During the lockdown period, academic activities were mainly provided in a remote teaching environment. This transition has raised new challenges for students and lecturers. The present study is particularly focused on lecturers’ perceptions. Namely, it aims to understand their perception of the teaching and assessment process during the first lockdown due to COVID-19, in a Portuguese Higher Education Institution. More specifically, we aim to explore the main difficulties and challenges associated with remote teaching environments. This research was based on a qualitative approach. For the data collection, we gathered information from semi-structured interviews. The data were collected through a semi-structured interview conducted in September 2020. We obtained 24 interviews from teachers at Porto Polytechnic University, the country’s largest Portuguese Polytechnic Higher Education Institution. Data were analysed according to content analysis procedures using specific software for data conduct and content analysis. Our results showed that full-time lecturers had more teaching and administrative workload and enormous challenges when compared with part-time lecturers. Most of the teachers were satisfied with Emergency Remote Teaching. The main difficulties referred by the teachers were the time adaptation to acquire the technological skills required in remote teaching and an increased workload concerning class preparation. Nonetheless, the most significant challenges encountered were the lack of student interaction during the classes and the difficulty in redesigning a fair and correct assessment for every subject within a remote environment. Therefore, the more experienced lecturers were the least satisfied with the teaching and the assessment during the first lockdown. Furthermore, technological issues and problems related to teacher-student interaction were perceived as challenging. These results reinforce the need to stabilise the teaching staff in Higher Education Institutions and to develop new strategies and models for Higher Education.
- Learning inside the box: students' perceptions of emergency remote learningPublication . Fernandes, Joana; Silva, Susana; Silva, Cândida; Lima, Vanda; Carvalho, Amélia; Peres, PaulaCOVID-19 has had a considerable impact on learning environments, placing huge challenges on students and teachers. During the pandemic period, academic activities were mainly provided in a remote learning environment. Learning and assessment activities had to be adjusted to remote environments. The present study is particularly focuses on students' perceptions. Namely, it aims to understand the students' perceptions of the learning and assessment activities during the first lockdown due to COVID-19 in a Portuguese Higher Education Institution. Specifically, we aim to understand the difficulties and challenges identified by higher education students related to remote learning environments. For this qualitative study, we used a semi-structured interview for data collection. Data were collected in September and October 2020. We interviewed 29 students from a Portuguese Higher education institution. Data were analysed according to content analysis procedures. Our results suggest that most students had a positive evaluation of the learning process and assessment during the pandemic. The most positive dimensions were related to their ability to manage their own time and better work/study management. On the other hand, students understood it as a challenge to their ability to maintain focus, be motivated for classes and tasks, and interact with the teacher. These challenges are related to the understanding of less efficient learning. Therefore, most students were satisfied with the learning and the assessment process during the first lockdown. Furthermore, students identified several positive aspects and challenges related to this period. Higher Education Institutions' decision-makers should consider these results to develop new strategies and models for Higher Education.
- Measurement of resilience potential: Development and validation a toolPublication . Fernandes, Joana; Barbosa, Judite; Arezes, Pedro; Pardo-Ferreira, María del Carmen; Rubio-Romero, Juan Carlos; Rodrigues, MatildeCrises that occur without warning test the abilities and resilience of Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) systems. Resilience engineering seeks ways to enhance the ability of systems to thrive under diverse conditions across various domains. However, developing metrics to measure and analyze the resilience potential of the OSH management systems remains a significant challenge. Therefore, it is of the crucial to build up a robust and resilient OSH system, capable to handling unforeseen events and emergent risks in order to ensure workers’ safety and health. Resilience engineering has proposed the following four potentials for resilient performance (Hollnagel, 2017): potential to respond (knowing what to do); potential to monitor (knowing what to look for); potential to learn (knowing what has happened); and potential to anticipate (knowing what to expect). In view of the above, it is necessary to develop a new tool to measure the resilience potential of the OSH management system in this context according to the concepts introduced by resilience engineering.
- Teachers’ perceptions of remote learning during the pandemic: a case studyPublication . Silva, Susana; Fernandes, Joana; Peres, Paula; Lima, Vanda; Silva, CândidaThe closure of higher education institutions (HEIs) due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic led to visible changes in pedagogical practices. With the lockdown, there was ambiguity and disagreement about the workload of teachers and students, and about what to teach and what strategies to select. For most instructors, the first challenge was to recreate the face-to-face experience. Worldwide, most universities have speedily adopted synchronous and asynchronous communication modes. Google Classroom, Microsoft Teams, Cisco, Webex, Zoom, and Moodle were among the most used tools. The present study is based upon a quantitative approach, and it intends to analyse teachers’ perceptions of remote teaching during the first pandemic period. Data were collected through an online questionnaire during June and July 2020. The questionnaire had 27 questions divided into three main sections: sociodemographic characterization, e-Learning strategies, and remote assessment. The study population was teachers of a Portuguese HEI. A random sample was used with 547 participants. The main conclusions show that the less experienced teachers are, the more satisfied they feel with remote classes and remote assessment. On the other hand, the most experienced teachers used more tools during the remote teaching period and developed more strategies to perform remote assessment. Regarding the overall assessment of the emergency remote teaching, the participants consider that it was a positive period, and they were moderately satisfied with remote classes and the strategies and tools used during this period.