An Analysis of the Relationship Between Student Motivation in Online Courses and Instructor Use of Effective Instructional Strategies during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Location
Session 3 Presentations - COVID-19 & Higher Education
Proposal Track
Research Project
Session Format
Presentation
Abstract
Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, faculty at higher education institutions across the world quickly converted courses to an online format. With that swift switch, a major challenge experienced by many students has been the loss of motivation, due primarily to the social isolation experienced during the pandemic. This study examined factors that affect student motivation at a Romanian public university. As such, the study contributes to the literature on motivation, by focusing on a context that has rarely been addressed by other studies – universities that began experiencing with online education for the first time during the pandemic. The study highlights commonalities with prior literature by demonstrating that motivation is affected by instructors’ use of effective online instructional practices, perceived course quality, and issues with technology. However, important contextual differences exist between universities with established online programs and universities that experimented with online learning for the first time during the pandemic. Specifically, instructors at the examined university were more likely than faculty in established online programs to experience issues with technology and less likely to use effective online teaching practices. Consequently, students’ perceived quality of the online courses was lower.
Keywords
motivation, online learning, Romanian universities, effective instruction, Covid-19
Professional Bio
Daniel Teodorescu is a Professor of Higher Education at Clark Atlanta University. For more than two decades, he has served in a variety of leadership roles in institutional research, planning and assessment at institutions such as the College of Charleston, Emory University, Hunter College, Reinhardt University and Clark Atlanta University. He has taught quantitative research and research design courses at Reinhardt University, Pennsylvania State University, and Clark Atlanta University and coordinated the re-accreditation efforts at four of these institutions. He has authored more than 80 articles, book chapters, and conference presentations in the field of higher education research.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Teodorescu, Daniel; Aivaz, Kamer Ainur; and Amalfi, Ana, "An Analysis of the Relationship Between Student Motivation in Online Courses and Instructor Use of Effective Instructional Strategies during the Covid-19 Pandemic" (2021). Georgia Educational Research Association Conference. 44.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/gera/2021/2021/44
An Analysis of the Relationship Between Student Motivation in Online Courses and Instructor Use of Effective Instructional Strategies during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Session 3 Presentations - COVID-19 & Higher Education
Following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, faculty at higher education institutions across the world quickly converted courses to an online format. With that swift switch, a major challenge experienced by many students has been the loss of motivation, due primarily to the social isolation experienced during the pandemic. This study examined factors that affect student motivation at a Romanian public university. As such, the study contributes to the literature on motivation, by focusing on a context that has rarely been addressed by other studies – universities that began experiencing with online education for the first time during the pandemic. The study highlights commonalities with prior literature by demonstrating that motivation is affected by instructors’ use of effective online instructional practices, perceived course quality, and issues with technology. However, important contextual differences exist between universities with established online programs and universities that experimented with online learning for the first time during the pandemic. Specifically, instructors at the examined university were more likely than faculty in established online programs to experience issues with technology and less likely to use effective online teaching practices. Consequently, students’ perceived quality of the online courses was lower.
