Abstract:

The paper deals with online distance instruction (ODI) during the COVID-19 pandemic from the view of university students – the pre-service teachers. In the Czech Republic, the period of pandemic restrictions lasted almost 18 months. The main objective of the presented research is to discover whether/how attitudes to ODI in pre-service students changed during the period of pandemic restrictions. Data were collected by the ex-post-facto method via the questionnaire from the sample of 145 respondents – university students, prospective teachers. The questionnaires were distributed online in autumn 2021 and autumn 2022. Respondents expressed their opinions using the four-level Likert scale (fully agree, rather agree, rather disagree, fully disagree) on four statements:
(1) Teachers invested much effort in ODI;
(2) Students invested much effort in ODI;
(3) I appreciate ODI;
(4) I did not learn much through ODI.
Frequencies of occurrence were compared in both periods, analysed, and interpreted. Surprisingly, the results discovered, for example, much appraisal from students to teachers in the first period of ODI, a lot of student effort invested in ODI in the first period, identical appreciation of ODI in both periods, or high disagreement with statement 4 in autumn 2021 saying that students did not learn much through ODI. The results are discussed in the context of previous research focused on upper secondary and vocational education.

Keywords:

Online distance instruction, university, higher education, pre-service teacher, prospective teacher, COVID-19, pandemic, restriction, Likert scale.