Online Teaching and Learning of Mathematics in Higher Education: Post-Covid 19 Lecturer Perspectives

Abstract

Online learning offers excellent chances for both students and teachers because it is flexible, affordable, and convenient in terms of time and space. This paper examined the perspectives of lectures on online teaching and learning mathematics in higher education after COVID-19. This paper adopted the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as a theoretical framework. The theory was used in the study to understand the lecturers’ viewpoints on how they embrace the use of technology in their teaching of mathematics. This was a qualitative study that used a case study as a design. The study’s participants were ten (10) mathematics lecturers at the Mathematics Department in one rural university in the Eastern Cape Province purposefully selected as information-rich participants. Data was collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews which were analysed through thematic analysis. The findings of the study revealed that lecturers saw the importance of teaching mathematics using technology to close the resource gap as universities steadily shift to 21st-century learning environments. At the same time, lecturers in rural universities are impacted by the challenges they face, which include a lack of technology skills, teaching practical work online, classroom control during online teaching, shortage of resources such as poor internet connections and electricity load shedding in the country which had strained the smooth running of online mathematics classes especially while teaching mathematics online. Based on the findings the study recommended that lecturers should be provided with technology professional development in mathematics, strengthening of internet access points, and methods for monitoring and controlling mathematics classes.

Keywords

• higher education
• learning
• mathematics
• online
• teaching.