University Students’ Perception, Evaluation, and Spaces of Distance Learning during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Austria: What Can We Learn for Post-Pandemic Educational Futures?

Tabea Bork-Hüffer, Vanessa Kulcar, Ferdinand Brielmair, Andrea Markl, Daniel Marian Immer, Barbara Juen, Maria Hildegard Walter and Katja Kaufmann
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Tabea Bork-Hüffer: Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Vanessa Kulcar: Institute of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Ferdinand Brielmair: Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Andrea Markl: Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Daniel Marian Immer: Institute of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Barbara Juen: Institute of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Maria Hildegard Walter: Institute of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Katja Kaufmann: Institute of Geography, University of Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 14, 1-25

Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic caught societies worldwide unprepared in 2020. In Austria, after a lockdown was decreed on 16 March 2020, educational institutions had to switch to a patched-up distance learning approach, which has been largely maintained to date. This article delivers empirical insights from an interdisciplinary mixed-methods research study that investigated university students’ perceptions of and experiences with distance learning as well as their educational (home) spaces during the pandemic in Innsbruck, Austria. It combines results from a quantitative survey conducted with 2742 students in early 2021 with a qualitative multi-method and longitudinal research study that accompanied 98 students throughout four data-collection phases in 2020. Results show a significant improvement since spring 2020 with both teachers and learners adjusting to the distance learning formats and the use of digital tools, yet students urgently desired a return to face-to-face teaching and university life, particularly for its social benefits. Strikingly, more than half of the participants wanted to maintain the option of overall distance education after the pandemic. Based on the perspectives of students, it is appropriate to demand significant changes in post-pandemic education adapted to the era of the post-digital, for which this article gives short-term as well as medium-term recommendations.

Keywords: COVID-19; young adults; hybrid learning; remote teaching; educational spaces; tertiary education; higher education; Austria; mixed methods; post-digital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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