Learning Environments Among Preservice Teachers Before and After Pandemic-Related Course Disruption

• In Event: Teachers and Their Influence on the Learning Environment

Abstract

When the 2020 semester began in the USA in January, one would not have imagined that, after spring break, a near-total closure of the education system across the globe would become the new normal (UNESCO, 2020). To mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 virus, faculty hastily converted to an online learning environment in order for instruction to continue. This mixed- methods study used the What Is Happening In this Class?(WIHIC) questionnaire (Aldridge, Fraser & Huang, 1999) and anecdotal evidence from university students and faculty to explore changes in student perceptions of learning environments from before to after the switch to remote learning due to the pandemic.

Authors

• Christopher Sean Long, University of North Texas

• Becky Barton Sinclair, Texas A&M University - Commerce

• Pamela E. Harrell, University of North Texas

• Karthigeyan Subramaniam, University of North Texas

• Barry J. Fraser, Curtin University