The forestry sector was not spared from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the way forest education is delivered in response to lockdowns and reduced mobility. The aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching and learning of forest science in Africa and Europe. Countries purposively selected in Africa include Nigeria and Uganda Italy and Spain were selected in Europe were selected in Europe. Eleven universities were also purposively sampled for the study in these countries. For the data collection, a well-structured and pre-pre-tested questionnaire was administered electronically via emails, and WhatsApp messages to students and academic staff. The questionnaire complied with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and was approved by the University of Padova on 14.09.2021. The collected data was analyzed using Microsoft 365 Excel. The total number of responses received and analyzed for the study was 238, of which 23 (9.66%) were lecturers and 215 (90.34%) were students. Many of the responses, 192 (80.67%) were from African universities, and this can be attributed to the high population of students studying forestry in Africa. The results show that the use of virtual teaching has increased in forest science, as well as in other higher education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and universities’ policies are adapting by providing more flexibility and a variety of teaching methods. Zoom was the most popular platform used for online video conferencing during the pandemic. Most of the students watched online class recordings to compliment the online teaching. The top general challenges faced by students and lecturers during the pandemic were missing the interactions they used to have with their colleagues and lecturers before and after lectures; and missing going on field trips or visits. Most students and lecturers did not communicate the challenges they faced in online learning and teaching to their respective universities. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped the students enhance their soft skills such as collaboration, working in a team, use of ICT tools, etc. as well as combining studies and work. In the same vein, the lecturers had access to use of new tools and teaching approaches; although the use of virtual teaching tools made it mandatory for teachers/professors to be innovative and learn new techniques, software, and skills. Unfortunately, it was discovered that both forestry students and lecturers currently do not appreciate the use of virtual reality (VR) to replace fieldwork. the European respondents feel that the quality of forest education provided during the COVID-19 pandemic was compromised, as there were usually more field trips than are currently obtainable. The overall perspective of learning and teaching forest sciences in the COVID-19 pandemic era is more negative for the students, while it is half positive and half negative for lecturers. I recommend that forestry degree curriculum at universities should be flexible to allow addition of new topics, use of variety of teaching and assessment methods, in a blended approach of face-to-face and online. The integration of technologies should lead to more flexibility of studies, a reduction in tuition fees and attract more young people. The exchange of lecturers and students between African and European universities offering forestry programme should be explored as they are in high demand by the respondents. There is also a need for integration of diversity of professionals from other nationals in teaching of forestry as all lecturers who responded to the survey are nationals of the respective countries where the university is located.
Il settore forestale non è stato risparmiato dagli impatti della pandemia COVID-19 e dal modo in cui l'educazione forestale viene impartita in risposta alle chiusure e alla mobilità ridotta. Lo scopo di questo studio è indagare l'impatto della pandemia COVID-19 sull'insegnamento e l'apprendimento delle scienze forestali in Africa e in Europa. I Paesi selezionati in Africa includono Nigeria e Uganda, mentre in Europa sono stati selezionati Italia e Spagna. Anche in questi Paesi sono state selezionate in modo mirato undici università per lo studio. Per la raccolta dei dati, un questionario ben strutturato e pre-testato è stato somministrato elettronicamente tramite e-mail e messaggi WhatsApp a studenti e personale accademico. Il questionario è conforme al Regolamento generale sulla protezione dei dati (GDPR) ed è stato approvato dall'Università di Padova il 14.09.2021. I dati raccolti sono stati analizzati utilizzando Microsoft 365 Excel. Il numero totale di risposte ricevute e analizzate per lo studio è stato di 238, di cui 23 (9,66%) erano docenti e 215 (90,34%) studenti. Molte delle risposte, 192 (80,67%), provenivano da università africane, e ciò può essere attribuito all'elevata popolazione di studenti di scienze forestali in Africa. I risultati mostrano che l'uso dell'insegnamento virtuale è aumentato nelle scienze forestali, così come in altri settori dell'istruzione superiore, a causa della pandemia COVID-19, e le politiche delle università si stanno adattando fornendo maggiore flessibilità e una varietà di metodi di insegnamento. Zoom è stata la piattaforma più utilizzata per le videoconferenze online durante la pandemia. La maggior parte degli studenti ha guardato le registrazioni delle lezioni online per integrare l'insegnamento online. Le principali sfide generali affrontate da studenti e docenti durante la pandemia sono state la mancanza delle interazioni che erano soliti avere con i colleghi e i docenti prima e dopo le lezioni e la mancanza di gite o visite. La maggior parte degli studenti e dei docenti non ha comunicato alle rispettive università le difficoltà incontrate nell'apprendimento e nell'insegnamento online. La pandemia COVID-19 ha aiutato gli studenti a migliorare le loro competenze trasversali come la collaborazione, il lavoro di squadra, l'uso degli strumenti TIC, ecc. e a conciliare studio e lavoro. Allo stesso modo, i docenti hanno avuto accesso all'uso di nuovi strumenti e approcci didattici; anche se l'uso di strumenti didattici virtuali ha reso obbligatorio per gli insegnanti/professori essere innovativi e imparare nuove tecniche, software e competenze. Gli intervistati europei ritengono che la qualità dell'istruzione forestale fornita durante la pandemia COVID-19 sia stata compromessa, poiché di solito le escursioni sul campo erano più numerose di quelle attualmente possibili. La prospettiva complessiva dell'apprendimento e dell'insegnamento delle scienze forestali nell'era della pandemia COVID-19 è più negativa per gli studenti, mentre è per metà positiva e per metà negativa per i docenti. Raccomando che il curriculum di studi forestali nelle università sia flessibile per consentire l'aggiunta di nuovi argomenti, l'uso di una varietà di metodi di insegnamento e di valutazione, in un approccio misto di lezioni frontali e online. L'integrazione delle tecnologie dovrebbe portare a una maggiore flessibilità degli studi, a una riduzione delle tasse universitarie e ad attrarre più giovani. Dovrebbe essere esplorato lo scambio di docenti e studenti tra le università africane ed europee che offrono programmi forestali, poiché sono molto richiesti dagli intervistati. È inoltre necessario integrare la diversità dei professionisti di altre nazionalità nell'insegnamento della silvicoltura, dato che tutti i docenti che hanno risposto al sondaggio sono cittadini dei rispettivi Paesi in cui si trova l'università.
Impacts of Covid-19 Pandemic on teaching and learning Forest Science in Africa and Europe: Lessons learned from case studies
ONATUNJI, ALEX BIMBO
2021/2022
Abstract
The forestry sector was not spared from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the way forest education is delivered in response to lockdowns and reduced mobility. The aim of this study is to investigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching and learning of forest science in Africa and Europe. Countries purposively selected in Africa include Nigeria and Uganda Italy and Spain were selected in Europe were selected in Europe. Eleven universities were also purposively sampled for the study in these countries. For the data collection, a well-structured and pre-pre-tested questionnaire was administered electronically via emails, and WhatsApp messages to students and academic staff. The questionnaire complied with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and was approved by the University of Padova on 14.09.2021. The collected data was analyzed using Microsoft 365 Excel. The total number of responses received and analyzed for the study was 238, of which 23 (9.66%) were lecturers and 215 (90.34%) were students. Many of the responses, 192 (80.67%) were from African universities, and this can be attributed to the high population of students studying forestry in Africa. The results show that the use of virtual teaching has increased in forest science, as well as in other higher education due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and universities’ policies are adapting by providing more flexibility and a variety of teaching methods. Zoom was the most popular platform used for online video conferencing during the pandemic. Most of the students watched online class recordings to compliment the online teaching. The top general challenges faced by students and lecturers during the pandemic were missing the interactions they used to have with their colleagues and lecturers before and after lectures; and missing going on field trips or visits. Most students and lecturers did not communicate the challenges they faced in online learning and teaching to their respective universities. The COVID-19 pandemic has helped the students enhance their soft skills such as collaboration, working in a team, use of ICT tools, etc. as well as combining studies and work. In the same vein, the lecturers had access to use of new tools and teaching approaches; although the use of virtual teaching tools made it mandatory for teachers/professors to be innovative and learn new techniques, software, and skills. Unfortunately, it was discovered that both forestry students and lecturers currently do not appreciate the use of virtual reality (VR) to replace fieldwork. the European respondents feel that the quality of forest education provided during the COVID-19 pandemic was compromised, as there were usually more field trips than are currently obtainable. The overall perspective of learning and teaching forest sciences in the COVID-19 pandemic era is more negative for the students, while it is half positive and half negative for lecturers. I recommend that forestry degree curriculum at universities should be flexible to allow addition of new topics, use of variety of teaching and assessment methods, in a blended approach of face-to-face and online. The integration of technologies should lead to more flexibility of studies, a reduction in tuition fees and attract more young people. The exchange of lecturers and students between African and European universities offering forestry programme should be explored as they are in high demand by the respondents. There is also a need for integration of diversity of professionals from other nationals in teaching of forestry as all lecturers who responded to the survey are nationals of the respective countries where the university is located.| File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12608/37158