Students' perception of digital tools used with online teaching methodologies in a pandemic context: a case study in Northern Chile

Abstract

In 2020, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is of interest to understand how students perceived the access, use, and utility of digital tools in online teaching. This study provides an insight into the needs of students in adjusting to online teaching.

This study presents the methodological design of the course “Industrial Hygiene I,” part of a technology-based engineering bachelor’s degree from Universidad Católica del Norte (Chile). Once the theoretical framework was established, three surveys were designed throughout the course to measure students’ perceptions of the access, use, and utility of digital tools used in online teaching during the pandemic. Thirty-five students participated in this quantitative study.

Following a data analysis, it was observed that 46% of students use their cell phones to access virtual classes and more than 50% are dissatisfied with the internet connection; therefore, it was necessary to adapt the learning methodology. After that, more than 50% of the students said that they preferred a flipped classroom over traditional methodology. In addition, the quality of the course was not affected by using the internet (60%), and the methodology generates advantages in terms of learning (72%).

These findings have several implications in both the design of different subjects in the engineering degree and the practice of different learning methods. Future hybrid teaching designs require taking up the challenges of both improving technology-supported teaching and assessing competence in the same context.