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Conference Paper/Proceeding/Abstract 930 views 397 downloads

The International Impact of COVID-19 and "Emergency Remote Teaching" on Computer Science Education Practitioners

Tom Crick Orcid Logo, Cathryn Knight Orcid Logo, Richard Watermeyer, Janet Goodall Orcid Logo

IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON'21)

Swansea University Authors: Tom Crick Orcid Logo, Cathryn Knight Orcid Logo, Janet Goodall Orcid Logo

DOI (Published version): 10.1109/EDUCON46332.2021.9453846

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed "emergency remote teaching" across education globally, leading to the closure of institutions across all settings, from schools through to universities. This paper looks specifically at the impact of these disruptive changes to those teaching the disciplin...

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Published in: IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON'21)
Published: IEEE 2021
URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa56273
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Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic has imposed "emergency remote teaching" across education globally, leading to the closure of institutions across all settings, from schools through to universities. This paper looks specifically at the impact of these disruptive changes to those teaching the discipline of computer science. Drawing on the quantitative and qualitative findings from a large-scale international survey (N=2,483) conducted in the immediate aftermath of closures, implementation of lockdown measures, and the shift to online delivery in March 2020, we report how those teaching computer science across all educational levels (n=327) show significantly more positive attitudes towards the move to online learning, teaching and assessment (LT&A) than those working in other disciplines. When comparing educational setting, computer science practitioners in schools felt more prepared and confident than those in higher education; however, they expressed greater concern around equity and whether students would be able to access the teaching made available online. Furthermore, while practitioners across all sectors consistently noted the potential opportunities of these changes, they also raised a number of wider concerns on the impact of this shift to online, especially on workload and job precarity. More specifically for computer science practitioners, there were concerns raised regarding the ability to effectively deliver technical topics online, as well as the impact on various types of formal examinations and assessment. We also offer informed commentary from this rapid response international survey on emerging LT&A strategies that will likely continue to be constrained by coronavirus into 2021 and possibly beyond.
Keywords: COVID-19, emergency remote teaching, practitioner perceptions, schools, universities, computer science education
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences