Effects of emergency remote teaching on academic performance of undergraduate students during COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

Abstract

The COVID-19 global epidemic caused a radical shift in delivery methods, forcing teachers and students alike into the online space rather than the traditional brick-and-mortar-learning model. Using secondary data, the main objective of this study is to look into the effects of emergency remote teaching on academic performance of undergraduate students during COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. To facilitate the shift to the online space, higher education institutions in South Africa needed to ensure digital equality during the disease outbreak. This is an area that is not well researched in higher education in South Africa, thus it is important to determine the impact of emergency remote teaching on academic performance of undergraduate students. In comparison to using mobile internet data, authors discovered that students' performance is strongly associated with good Wi-Fi access. Researchers also see lower academic performance among students who found the transition to online complicated and who preferred self-study reading class slides and notes, over helped study such as joining live lectures or watching recorded lectures. This study explores literature on the effects of emergency remote learning in South Africa. The findings suggest that higher education institutions ought to invest in inclusive Information Technology strategy and infrastructure and embed student computer skills in foundation modules. Future studies can be carried out using primary data to determine specific constructs and variables and their impact.