Abstract:

In the current period of Covid-19 pandemic crisis, there were very unexpected changes in the society, in general, and in the education system, in particular, with the quick change to distance learning and teaching. This situation took the educational community by surprise and, in particular, its main protagonists (students and teachers). The digital revolution poses new challenges, but it also provides renewed learning opportunities that make it possible to face the current situation. However, there are still social inequalities in access to computer equipment and internet.
This empirical study aims to investigate how teachers evaluated their performance in the context of distance learning and teaching, due to the current pandemic situation, in terms of pedagogical resources and instruments, teaching strategies and assessment of learning, as well as the students' perceptions about those topics. The sample was composed of 30
teachers and 960 students (at the level of the 10th year of schooling) of Portuguese secondary schools. Data, collected by questionnaire, were analyzed using Descriptive Statistics and Inferential Statistics (namely, the hypothesis test for the difference between two proportions). It was found that, in general, teachers expressed the most favorable opinions toward distance learning and teaching, comparatively to the students. On the other hand, students expressed a greater diversity of opinions, when compared to the teachers. The most dissonant opinions between the two parties were those referring to the items “Diversification of the resources used”, “Diversification of the activities carried out”, “Incentive to participate in activities and projects that contribute to learning” and “Carrying out activities involving other disciplines”. The most similar opinions between students and teachers are related to the items “opportunities to participate in class activities” and “explanation of the evaluation criteria”.

Keywords:

Perception of teachers and students, teaching and learning, period of Covid-19 pandemic, data analysis.