The Emergence of the Emergency in Higher Education in Argentina

Abstract

The context of COVID-19 has deeply penetrated various aspects of university life such as academic and administrative management; teaching practices and learning have been challenged, shaken and, in some way, transformed. This article will describe an ongoing study of trends in relation to the inclusion of technologies; the representations about online teaching itself, before and during the COVID-19 emergency, and also a projection into the post-COVID and the implications for student’s achievements before and during the emergency. A comparison will be made between the data obtained from these two Argentinean universities and the information published by the IAU Global Survey Report [1] in order to develop a broader map about the challenges ahead for Higher Education (HE). Besides, the article will include some inquiries about whether post-pandemic pedagogical practices will change according to teachers' own views. Based on the results of the survey, we have delved into a qualitative study that focuses on changes in teaching and assessment practices in HE that allow us to extract from the voices of practicing professors with many years of experience, possible scenarios that account for transformations in teaching practices and ways of learning for the next few years. The empirical statistical survey carried out on more than 400 professors and the in-depth qualitative study offer results that are enlightening to review, in addition, management, training and relationship decisions with the student body for the coming years