Evaluation of Learners’ Academic Performance in Teaching and Learning Civil Engineering During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

COVID-19 has had a significant impact on teaching and learning (T&L) pedagogies, which shifted from 100% face-to-face instruction to online and hybrid formats. The diversity of online and offline teaching and learning tools and platforms during the pandemic led to adjustment issues for students early in the pandemic. The preference for teaching and learning in choosing appropriate methods during a panic affects academic outcomes. However, students’ academic performance on the T&L preference approach during the pandemic is questionable. This paper evaluates the academic performance of learners in the geotechnical course at the Centre for Civil Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Malaysia, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The impacts of teaching and learning the course content through a preferential approach and the use of digital communication technologies on learners’ academic performance during this period were investigated. A representative group recording was chosen as the case study method to assess learners’ academic performance. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and thematic analysis was used to evaluate qualitative data. The novelty of this work is to use student performance data and descriptive analysis of online surveys to reveal trends that can help identify preferred pedagogies in teaching and learning during the pandemic and in the future, and avoid failure among students. The results of the analysis revealed that during open and distance learning, learners’ preferred asynchronous method with the social media platform WhatsApp and unrecorded video were chosen as the means of communication between educators and learners. The results show that learners can perform well on course assessments despite the pandemic. T&L pedagogies are identified for best practices in face-to-face and non-face-to-face classes in the future.