Middle School Students' Engagement in Emergency Remote Teaching: A Qualitative Study in South Korea

• In Event: Online Teaching and Learning During COVID-19 in K–12 Settings

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to qualitatively explore middle school students’ engagement in emergency remote teaching during COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, the research was conducted on 119 students in a girls’ middle school in Seoul, South Korea. To achieve in-depth understanding of the students' experience, class artifacts, students’ weekly comments and reflective journals were analyzed. The results showed behavioral engagement of the students were relatively high in emergency remote teaching. With regard to emotional engagement, however, anxiety was particularly prominent. In addition, many learners struggled with asking questions and desired to know other classmates’ progress. In order to ensure students’ engagement in emergency remote teaching, instructional design and strategies that reflect these learners' experiences are needed.

Authors

• Jinsol Kim, Ewha Womans University

• Jeongmin Lee, Ewha Womans University