UA Little Rock professor explores faculty attitudes toward online teaching as a result of the pandemic – News

A study by a professor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock found that most political science instructors in higher education felt more positive about teaching online after the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Rebecca Glazier, professor of political science in the School of Public Affairs, published an article titled “Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 on Political Science Teaching” in the journal PS: Political Science and Politics.

She surveyed about 300 political science professors who are members of the American Political Science Association (APSA). The data paint a picture of professors who are doing more for students and who feel stressed by their efforts. Those who had more experience teaching online before the pandemic had more positive views of teaching online when they were surveyed during the pandemic. The results showed that most professors’ attitudes toward teaching online became more positive (46.2 percent) or remained the same (31.9 percent) during the first two years of the pandemic.

“We thought teaching during COVID would make a lot of people hate teaching online,” Glazier said. “Overall, it didn’t make people more negative. The people who were most affected were those who had to teach online for the first time because of COVID-19.”

About 22 percent of respondents have become more negative about online teaching because of the pandemic.

“For a lot of teachers, it was really hard to teach for the first time during COVID. They were suddenly teaching online with a week’s notice,” Glazier said. “That’s why some people hate teaching online. If you give people some training and preparation, people don’t hate teaching online anymore.”

Glazier and her co-author, Dr. J. Cherie Strachan of the University of Akron, are both members of APSA’s Political Science Education group. Glazier received a Small Research Grant from APSA to support her project.

In addition to studying attitudes toward online teaching, Glazier said her research also found that faculty members developed some positive teaching habits during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Faculty members reported spending more time one-on-one with students to discuss personal issues, though women consistently reported spending more time with students, both before and during the pandemic. Many faculty members also reported becoming more empathetic during the pandemic.

“It has made me more aware that many of my students have challenges that I am unaware of and that affect their performance,” said one respondent.

Glazier said most of the findings from her research project — attitudes toward online teaching and teachers becoming more empathetic and spending more time one-on-one with students — “cut across disciplines and are something that all educators have to deal with.”