Abstract:

In this paper we present our observations made in the initial period (first 1.5 years) of the COVID 19 pandemic in Poland. We briefly describe the dynamics of the development of the epidemic situation in the country and against this background we will share the observations made during our classes with students The intention of this work is to stimulate the international exchange of experiences in tackling the epidemic crisis in academic teaching in the countries concerned. Our observations concern lectures in computer science and mathematical subjects in the area of didactics. For both groups of subjects, we observe similarities in the nature of the difficulties caused by the epidemic rigor, but also in the positive side effects of the on-line mode. A separate type of challenge, although associated with the previous one concerning teaching, relates to the verification of acquired knowledge and thus to the control of teaching quality. In the paper we describe an experiment, forced under the circumstances which consisted in creating and testing a model of verification of the acquired knowledge in a manner as close as possible to the traditional model of controlling learning outcomes. The specificity of this experiment lies in the fact that in the conditions of the imposed restrictions on the methods of communication (change of the examination environment), maintaining the examination procedures in a form similar to the traditional one requires the use of highly non-traditional technologies. In the article, we note that our observations are generally consistent with the widespread feeling of discomfort caused by the pandemic situation and the general impression of a decline in the quality of education. On the basis of this observation, we conduct an extensive discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of the solutions proposed in this paper with the intention of contributing to the international exchange of good teaching practices. In conclusion, we deduce the thesis that some of the new, forced technical solutions may find application after the COVID 19 pandemic.

Keywords:

COVID 19, teaching under pandemic conditions, on-line teaching technology.