Navigating Online Teaching amidst COVID-19: Faculty Perspectives on Missing Traits and Challenges

Debashis Kayal; Biswajit Sarkar; Sudeshna Lahiri

doi:10.34002/jhrs.v4i2.128

Debashis Kayal https://orcid.org/0009-0004-8893-1690
Biswajit Sarkar Department of Education, University of Calcutta https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4911-8563
Sudeshna Lahiri Department of Education, University of Calcutta

DOI: https://doi.org/10.34002/jhrs.v4i2.128

Keywords: online teaching, missing traits and challenges, sequential exploratory design, face-to-face teaching, COVID -19

Abstract

The COVID-19 has compelled the formal institutions to embrace e-learning. This sudden transition created a pedagogical shift with significant challenges for both students and faculty. The research attempts to find challenges that make online teaching not as a complete replacement for face-to-face teaching as well as to investigate the missing traits that naturally originate from the face-to-face education. The multimethod research design was employed to address the research questions starting with qualitative research followed by quantitative analysis. Data were collected from fifty-one (51) randomly selected Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in West Bengal, India, with one hundred sixty-six (166) faculty members participating through a structured survey. Thematic analysis was applied to the qualitative responses, and the Chi-square test was used for quantitative data analysis. The findings reveal the complex and multifaceted nature of challenges in online teaching, with minimal influence from teacher age and also the missing traits in teaching online instruction as opposed face-to-face instruction. The study raises the question of whether teachers need alternative methods for online instruction. The findings reveal valuable insights for policymakers to evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing online classes and assist in designing curriculum and teaching strategies that better integrate digital platforms into higher education.