Gaps between professors and students’ perceptions of an HEI located in Pereira city, compared to the changes in their teaching-learning practices in Covid-19 era

Abstract

Due to the quick adaptation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), especially in-person class methodology, was important to continue training processes caused by the pandemic, which began in March 2020 in Colombia. Therefore, a research exercise was developed with students' participation belonging to the Fundación Universitaria Comfamiliar Risaralda, whose objective was focused on analyzing the perception of professors and undergraduate students belong to a private HEI located in Pereira city, about the changes implemented in their teaching-learning practices as a result in front of the contingency of Covid-19 phenomenon. The methodology was based on a conclusive-descriptive cross-sectional research design, using information collection instruments designed with structured questions with scaling techniques, sent through the Google Forms application, and directed to both groups to establish between them the respective gaps' analysis. The sample size for professors was 42 people, and 293 for students. The outcomes were given from four main aspects: i) general data, ii) virtuality or education assisted by ICT, iii) performance of students and professors, and iv) personal area, which can lead to decision-making by the HEI, aimed not only at possible immediate pathways but also at near-future scenarios. Conclusions turn around the gaps showed in these aspects in both intervened groups, where the perceptions are similar in terms of the performance achieved in front of the new circumstances, and there are differences in the way of understanding a reality that arrive to remain.