A pedagogical shift in the institutions of higher education : response to COVID-19 in three African universities

Abstract

The outbreak of the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in a pedagogical shift whereby most of the universities globally are opting for online teaching as opposed to face-to-face teaching. The three understudied universities have migrated from face-to-face to online teaching. The purpose of this study is to assess quality enhancement measures put in place by the understudied universities on online platforms created. Kolb’s learning theory was used as a theoretical framework. The study employed a qualitative approach with a case study design. The interpretive paradigm was followed to interpret the quality enhancement measures of online teaching in three African universities. Data were collected through documents analysis of three universities understudied. Policies, memorandums, letters, and all communication media of Online Distance Learning (ODL) for three universities were also interrogated to determine the extent of quality that has been put in place for online teaching. The results of the study revealed that all the three universities effectively prepared the online platforms which included training of lecturers. However, on the site of students’ preparedness, all the universities were found not ready to deal with students’ challenges that emerged due to abrupt migration to online teaching. The results also revealed that all the universities understudied did not put in place any quality enhancement measures as part of the transition from face-to-face to online teaching. The study concluded that the universities understudied were rapidly transitioning to online teaching and learning in response to COVID-19 without considering quality issues and also other challenges that strongly emerged on the site of students. The study recommends that the universities revisit the transition plan to deal with student’s challenges and also accommodate quality issues in the process.