Students’ Perceptions of Emergency Remote Instruction During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In Spring 2020, the pandemic forced administrators and professors to pivot to emergency remote instruction in order to salvage the semester. This study examines students’ perceptions of emergency remote instruction at a private university in the Midwestern US during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings show that 55% of students had never taken an online course prior to this experience. Moreover, 71% of students said that only a few professors were comfortable with the new online format and/or the use of technology, 78% of students perceived online instruction to be inferior to traditional classroom teaching, 87% of students missed the face-to-face contact with their professors, and 90% of students missed the face-to-face contact with their peers. Students who identified as extroverts missed the face-to-face interaction with their peers more than the students who identified as introverts. Finally, about 28% of students reported below average personal well-being after the pivot to emergency remote instruction.