From classroom to Zoom: Changes in teacher-student interaction in two Peruvian law schools

Abstract

In this study, we analyze in detail the opinions and experiences of law students regarding the changes in their interaction with professors. The study is based on interviews with students from two private universities in Lima, Peru. Through a thematic analysis of the information, we account for topics that show the changes that have taken place: i) from personal encounter to email, ii) from the attention and participation in the room to the microphone and the recording, iii) from the teacher in the room to the teacher in the camera, iv) of direct individual contact to the group, intermediaries and regulation. The analysis of these themes shows that interaction is composed by two dimension. On the one hand, the shape of communication (verbal, nonverbal; formal, informal; spontaneous, planned, among others) and, on the other hand, the content of communication (that which is communicated) and the subjective relation between students and professors. Our study shows diverse connections between these dimensions, as well as how they are shaped by the specific configurations of the space in which interaction takes place.