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This paper compares the effectiveness of in‐house developed computer‐based learning (CBL) materials with face‐to‐face teaching. Two groups of higher education students were randomly assigned to complete tutorial work in one highly structured topic of introductory accounting using either CBL materials (treatment group) or face‐to‐face teaching (control group). The effectiveness of both approaches was measured according to the students’ performance in a class test, in relation to their prior accounting knowledge and gender. The results showed that the students with no prior accounting knowledge who completed the CBL materials achieved a significantly higher test mark than the face‐to‐face teaching group. However, there was no significant difference in the marks of the students with prior accounting knowledge, and there was no difference on the basis of gender. The results of this South African study correspond to results in existing literature in other countries, and contribute to the overall knowledge of the effectiveness of CBL materials with respect to prior accounting knowledge and gender.

This research aims to examine the main findings of the SusTEACH study of the carbon-based environmental impacts of 30 higher education (HE) courses in 15 UK institutions, based on an analysis of the likely energy consumption and carbon emissions of a range of face-to-face, distance, online and information and communication technology (ICT)-enhanced blended teaching models.

An environmental assessment of 19 campus-based and 11 distance-based HE courses was conducted using questionnaire surveys to gather data from students and lecturers on course-related travel: the purchase and use of ICTs and paper materials, residential energy consumption and campus site operations. Results were converted into average energy and CO₂ emissions, normalised per student per 100 study hours, and then classified by the primary teaching model used by lecturers.

The main sources of HE course carbon emissions were travel, residential energy consumption and campus site operations. Distance-based HE models (distance, online and ICT-enhanced teaching models) reduced energy consumption by 88 per cent and achieved significant carbon reductions of 83 per cent when compared with campus-based HE models (face-to-face and ICT-enhanced teaching models). The online teaching model achieved the lowest energy consumption and carbon emissions, although there were potential rebound effects associated with increased ICT-related energy consumption and paper used for printing.

New pedagogical designs using online and distance-based teaching methods can achieve carbon reductions by reducing student travel via residential and campus accommodation.

Few studies have examined the environmental performance of HE teaching models. A new classification of HE traditional, online and blended teaching models is used to examine the role of ICTs and the likely carbon impacts.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused upheaval in university teaching practices. This paper aims to document how the teaching team on a large third-year undergraduate financial accounting course in an Australian university coped with the impact of the virus. Changes in teaching practices when classes shifted from face-to-face to online instruction during the COVID-19 crisis are described and examined using the crisis management process framework of Pearson and Clair (1998). Teaching team members were asked to write brief reflections on their experiences teaching the course during the period from February to July 2020. These were then thematically analysed and included as outcomes within the Pearson and Clair (1998) framework.

Description of COVID-19 induced changes to teaching a large undergraduate financial accounting course at an Australian university.

Six outcomes emerged: learning new technology; collegiality; the course review; the online delivery experience; redesigning assessments and; time investment; conjectures are offered about the survival of some of the changes made during the year.

The research only covers one teaching team’s experience but that is the purpose of the special issue.

Lessons for the future are explored.

The implications of online teaching are explored.

The paper provides a historical record of how the teaching team on a large undergraduate financial accounting course coped with an unexpected, major event that necessitated rapid and radical changes to teaching methods.

The study aimed to examine the relationship between self-regulation failure and academic achievement in an emergency remote teaching (ERT) and learning environment compared to a face-to-face setting.

This study conducted an analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) to investigate the impact of students falling behind (as proxy for self-regulation failure) on their final course mark. The sample comprised students from four undergraduate modules offered at a South African university in a face-to-face setting (N = 1,604), as well as an ERT setting (N = 1,478). Students falling behind were measured as the days behind, relative to the academic program, using learning management system (LMS) log data. The study further explored whether self-regulation failure had a greater effect on academic achievement in ERT as opposed to a face-to-face context.

The results indicated a negative correlation between self-regulation failure, evidenced by falling further behind in the academic program, and students' final course marks. Furthermore, the negative impact of falling behind was found to be greater on a student's final course mark during ERT compared to a face-to-face setting.

This study contributes to the literature on ERT by highlighting the increased negative effect of self-regulation failure on academic achievement in ERT as opposed to face-to-face teaching and learning. Findings of this research may be of value to educators and policymakers in identifying ways of supporting self-regulated learning in future ERT situations to ensure that academic success is maintained.

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the influence of distance learning of the subject Operational Research in terms of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the quality of teaching and the success of this course, to find out the satisfaction of students with the online learning, and the impact on the performance.

Grades of students from the subject were collected from the Faculty of Business and Economics of Mendel University in Brno between 2009 and 2021. A questionnaire concerning the views of students on online teaching of the subject and its comparison with face-to-face teaching was conducted, and the data obtained from 94 respondents were statistically processed by cluster analysis and the K-means method.

A comparison of the results of examinations from the years taught in classical face-to-face form and from the period when teaching took place only online showed no significant effect on the final grades of the students. The results show that the students were basically divided into two-halves: one-half that preferred online teaching and the other that supported a more face-to-face form of teaching. Most of the students highly appreciated the tutorial videos provided because of the possibility of repeated viewing.

The paper shows that online teaching may be a suitable replacement for standard teaching. The paper answers the question whether some online elements can be integrated in the standard form of teaching.

The ultimate objective of this study is to compare the impact of face-to-face and online flipped learning on students' academic achievements and their perspectives on learning and teaching, offering valuable insights to the field.

The study utilized a quasi-experimental research method that involves pre-test and post-test control groups.

The results indicated that face-to-face and online flipped learning positively impacted learning, with comparable contributions to academic achievement. However, we found that online flipped learning did not affect students' beliefs about learning and teaching, while face-to-face flipped learning positively influenced them.

As distance learning becomes increasingly important in our modern era, this research aims to explore the use of active learning methods, including discussion, writing, animation, drawing, association, analysis, knowledge measurement and games, in virtual learning environments, such as online flipped learning. The study seeks to enhance the existing literature on the impact of face-to-face and online flipped learning models on student success. Additionally, it aims to address a significant gap in the literature by determining the effect of these models on students' epistemological and pedagogical beliefs, which can impact their motivation, learning outcomes, academic achievements and decision-making processes.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the lived experiences from the voice of the authors (a science professor, an instructional designer, a distance learning doctoral intern, and a distance learning director) in the process of transitioning a face-to-face science course to online modality at a large, research university.

The method of this qualitative inquiry involves a personal narrative approach in which the authors reflect on their experiences of this process and analyze it through writing.

The findings examine the challenges of moving a traditional course online and reiterate the value of a team approach to ensure its quality. The narrative offers clarity to the different phases of such a project and can enhance decision making among those involved in course design and delivery, as well as administrators incentivizing the conversion of traditional courses to the online modality.

Online education has emerged as a viable solution. The challenges and rewards of transitioning face-to-face courses to distance learning modalities are well documented, even for a senior science educator.

Universities face several modern day challenges, including reductions in state appropriations, lack of available space for classes, challenges of engaging a technologically savvy generation, and preparing students for a global marketplace.

To support faculty members’ transition to online education, universities offer instructional design support, where ideas are exchanged with faculty members to ensure pedagogically sound and engaging distance learning. The authors conclude with recommendations for both practice and future research in the area of practice and process improvement for diffusion of online courses at traditional universities, one course at a time. This is important to those beginning to transition course offerings online.

Blended learning is an emerging trend across many educational settings, adopting the purposeful integration of traditional face-to-face and online teaching to establishing an engaging learning experience for the students. Blended learning provides an ideal platform for the implementation of reusable learning objects (RLOs) as a pedagogical tool to support classroom instruction.

This study had conducted a quasi-experiment followed by semi-structured interviews to determine if a blended learning approach using RLOs can enhance students’ learning in an undergraduate engineering computer-aided design (CAD) module. This study involved learners studying engineering in two different academic years.

Students from the first year were taught using traditional face-to-face teaching approach. The cohort of students from the subsequent year adopted a blended learning approach: face to face and access to a series of RLOs. The analysis revealed statistical evidence that the use of blended learning had a significant impact on the students' end of term exam grades in the CAD module in comparison to the students who undertook traditional face-to-face teaching approach. The qualitative findings highlighted the positive impact of RLOs on students’ learning behaviour, engagement and knowledge retention.

This study provided empirical evidence of the benefits of using RLOs as a blended learning tool in engineering domain. From a theoretical perspective, the findings highlighted the importance of good instructional design and sound theoretical underpinning of the pedagogical strategy. From a practical point of view, this study informed academics on how to improve learner's academic achievement using RLOs.

The purpose of this study is to explore online teaching experiences of educators in Fiji National University (FNU). Although they quickly adapted to online teaching, their experiences are yet to be explored and documented, hence the relevance of this study.

This study used phenomenological research design to understand the lived experiences of participants' regarding online teaching. A total of 58 in-depth interviews were conducted among educators, at various levels and analysed thematically using an inductive approach.

The findings show online teaching challenges including difficulties maintaining students' engagement, teaching practically oriented courses, assessing students and embracing change, limited knowledge impact and output, anxiety and stress, inadequate teaching environment, increased workload and unstable Internet. The facilitators and enablers were flexibility, free Internet, creating conducive environment, Moodle training, skills acquisition and support from faculty members' and information technology team. Recommendations for improvement ranged from modifying course outline, summarising previous lessons, reducing course load, adequate assessment tools, incentives, guidelines enforcement to regular training.

This is an original work carried out by the researchers in a specific context. The findings suggest the need to address various challenges for effective online teaching. School managers' and relevant key stakeholders need to understand educators’ teaching experiences as well as their recommended improvement strategies, to enhance online teaching.

Emergency remote teaching is not the same as a systematic, carefully thought out, and designed online learning system. Emergency remote teaching is best perceived as merely a first step towards migrating into a fully fledged, and carefully designed, virtual or online mode of study. Notwithstanding, this chapter provides a theoretical explanation that justifies the relevance and importance of emergency remote teaching in higher education practice, in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic and related discontinuities. It asserts that emergency related teaching is justified by the urgent need to maintain continuity of teaching and learning and to avoid knowledge and skills decay. A systematic approach to evaluate the effectiveness of emergency remote teaching involves measuring variables across four dimensions; that is, context, input, process, and outcomes. Weighting these dimensions is necessary to ensure that context, input, and process are prioritised above outcomes because the essence of the teaching model, when implemented, is to get it in place swiftly in order for teaching and learning to continue. The effectiveness of emergency remote teaching is best assessed on the basis of its speedy set-up and implementation to maintain continuity of teaching, not on student outcomes. The chapter investigated the approach that a sample of colleges and universities have followed to evaluate their model of emergency remote teaching and contrast it with theory. The approach found in practice was not aligned to best practice. Based on the evidence, the chapter proposes an evaluation framework that institutions can adopt specifically for evaluating emergency remote teaching practice.