Assessing Pre-service Science Teachers’ Perceptions about Online Teaching and Learning

Abstract

The unique nature of online teaching and learning has its own affordances and challenges. The purpose of this study was to assess science pre-service teachers’ perceptions about efficiency of online teaching and learning in science after experiencing it first-hand during the hard lockdowns due to Covid-19 pandemic. Mixed methods approach, with closed and open-ended questionnaires, was adopted to establish: What perceptions the pre-service teachers have about online teaching and learning in respect of effective teaching and effective assessment? What correlations can be drawn from pre-service science teachers experience of online teaching and learning with their perceptions? And to what extent this mode of teaching prepared these pre-service teachers to use it in their teaching practice? Descriptive statistics and content analysis of data revealed that participants rated online teaching and learning low and had a challenging experience in terms of collaboration, access to material and making meanings out of some science concepts. Participants reported low confidence relating to perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of online teaching and learning. The study concludes that the harsh experiences were the main contributing factors to the observed perceptions of participants as neither the lecturers nor these student-teachers were prepared for this mode of teaching and learning. Therefore, this study recommends that support mechanisms for students should be made available for online teaching and learning even under emergency situations. Pre-service teachers should also be given a chance to experience online teaching and learning under normal circumstances if they are to incorporate it in their teaching.