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Students’ Perceptions of Online Teaching in Higher Education Amid COVID-19

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Abstract

There is no doubt that the sudden migration to online learning amid COVID-19 has caused a degree of stress to students and faculty in higher education globally. Although several studies have reported on the challenges that faced the academic world during the pandemic and lessons learnt from some of the practices adopted through the delivery of online education, limited studies have been conducted to look into the most significant factors that impact students’ perception of the online delivery amid COVID-19. As such, this paper is based on a quantitative study targeting a highly rated higher education institution in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to identify the most significant pedagogical, psychological, and technological factors that impacted on students’ online learning experience amid COVID-19 and model the relationship between these factors and students’ perception of successful online learning, using structural equation modeling (SEM). The study also investigates the relationship between the students’ background and their satisfaction with the online delivery of teaching amid COVID-19. In addition, RII (relative importance index) analysis is used to identify the most important factors that impact students’ satisfaction with the online delivery. The study concludes that there are at least twenty-six factors that impact on students’ perception of successful online delivery, and that there is a positive relationship between the instructors’ teaching style and use of technology and the students’ perception of successful online delivery.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the comments and suggestions by the referees and the Editor. Their comments and suggestions have greatly improved the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Engineering, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

    Vian Ahmed & Sara Saboor

  2. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, American University of Sharjah, Sharjah, UAE

    Ayman Alzaatreh

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  1. Vian Ahmed
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  2. Ayman Alzaatreh
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Correspondence to Vian Ahmed.

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The manuscript has not been submitted to more than one journal for simultaneous consideration. The submitted work is original and has not been published elsewhere.

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As per AUS guidelines, an Institutional Review Board (IRB) form was submitted to the Office of the Institutional Research, and an official approval was obtained to collect the necessary data. The study was carried out following all the relevant guidelines and regulations. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Ahmed, V., Alzaatreh, A. & Saboor, S. Students’ Perceptions of Online Teaching in Higher Education Amid COVID-19. J Sci Educ Technol 32, 629–642 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-023-10069-6

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