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Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education

Duncan Watson, Robert Webb, Steve Cook Orcid Logo

Professional Development in Education, Pages: 1 - 19

Swansea University Authors: Duncan Watson, Steve Cook Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/19415257.2025.2536264

Abstract

Our paper introduces a heuristic model to explain how the UK higher education sector’s rapid shift to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic may constrain subsequent pedagogical innovation. Adapting the asset specificity framework, first introduced in the 1980s, we develop the concep...

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Published in: Professional Development in Education
ISSN: 1941-5257 1941-5265
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa70062
first_indexed 2025-07-30T16:01:57Z
last_indexed 2026-01-24T05:32:19Z
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spelling 2026-01-23T11:37:33.2116887 v2 70062 2025-07-30 Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education c9b6c1493f82d77df7e92f75da64f163 Duncan Watson Duncan Watson true false fce851eab28f6d8126d9bcd88250c6d5 0000-0002-1820-8390 Steve Cook Steve Cook true false 2025-07-30 ONDF Our paper introduces a heuristic model to explain how the UK higher education sector’s rapid shift to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic may constrain subsequent pedagogical innovation. Adapting the asset specificity framework, first introduced in the 1980s, we develop the concept of asynchronous specificity, a form of pedagogical lock-in that arises when teaching materials and institutional practices become narrowly tailored to pre-recorded, non-interactive delivery modes. We argue that these covid-era adaptations, though necessary at the time, may have created structural and cognitive sunk costs that disincentivise research-informed pedagogical reform. Our model highlights the competing incentives facing academics, between compliance and innovation, and the institutional conditions under which innovation is more likely to be suppressed. While our approach is conceptual rather than predictive, our approach offers a diagnostic tool for understanding inertia in teaching practices and sets out an agenda for policy and professional development reforms. We conclude by arguing that unless emergency responses are critically reassessed, the sector may risk mistaking short-term coping strategies for long-term pedagogical progress. Journal Article Professional Development in Education 0 1 19 Informa UK Limited 1941-5257 1941-5265 Innovation; highereducation; pedagogy; Covid-19; asset-specificity 29 7 2025 2025-07-29 10.1080/19415257.2025.2536264 COLLEGE NANME Other/Subsidiary Companies - Not Defined COLLEGE CODE ONDF Swansea University Another institution paid the OA fee 2026-01-23T11:37:33.2116887 2025-07-30T15:01:28.9868323 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences School of Social Sciences - Economics Duncan Watson 1 Robert Webb 2 Steve Cook 0000-0002-1820-8390 3 70062__34950__1d84df3f8f444ca3a0478881949214f2.pdf 70062.VoR.pdf 2025-08-13T15:44:37.5194846 Output 967493 application/pdf Version of Record true © 2025 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License. true eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
title Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education
spellingShingle Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education
Duncan Watson
Steve Cook
title_short Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education
title_full Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education
title_fullStr Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education
title_full_unstemmed Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education
title_sort Pedagogical inertia and asynchronous specificity: a heuristic model of post-covid teaching in higher education
author_id_str_mv c9b6c1493f82d77df7e92f75da64f163
fce851eab28f6d8126d9bcd88250c6d5
author_id_fullname_str_mv c9b6c1493f82d77df7e92f75da64f163_***_Duncan Watson
fce851eab28f6d8126d9bcd88250c6d5_***_Steve Cook
author Duncan Watson
Steve Cook
author2 Duncan Watson
Robert Webb
Steve Cook
format Journal article
container_title Professional Development in Education
container_volume 0
container_start_page 1
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1941-5257
1941-5265
doi_str_mv 10.1080/19415257.2025.2536264
publisher Informa UK Limited
college_str Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
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hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofhumanitiesandsocialsciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
department_str School of Social Sciences - Economics{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Social Sciences - Economics
document_store_str 1
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description Our paper introduces a heuristic model to explain how the UK higher education sector’s rapid shift to emergency remote teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic may constrain subsequent pedagogical innovation. Adapting the asset specificity framework, first introduced in the 1980s, we develop the concept of asynchronous specificity, a form of pedagogical lock-in that arises when teaching materials and institutional practices become narrowly tailored to pre-recorded, non-interactive delivery modes. We argue that these covid-era adaptations, though necessary at the time, may have created structural and cognitive sunk costs that disincentivise research-informed pedagogical reform. Our model highlights the competing incentives facing academics, between compliance and innovation, and the institutional conditions under which innovation is more likely to be suppressed. While our approach is conceptual rather than predictive, our approach offers a diagnostic tool for understanding inertia in teaching practices and sets out an agenda for policy and professional development reforms. We conclude by arguing that unless emergency responses are critically reassessed, the sector may risk mistaking short-term coping strategies for long-term pedagogical progress.
published_date 2025-07-29T05:31:33Z
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