Successfully digitized: Universities master the switch to corona crisis mode surprisingly well
Study by Stifterverband and McKinsey: 91 percent of the courses offered at German universities were successfully digitized in the summer semester - students and teachers are very satisfied with the speed and quality of the changeover to digital formats. However, the students' assessment of the basic learning experience is significantly worse - ad hoc digitization must now be implemented in meaningful, long-term teaching strategies
German universities reacted to the corona pandemic at a rapid pace and offered almost all of their teaching (91 percent) digitally in the 2020 summer semester. Half of the universities (54 percent) even managed to switch within 14 days. Teachers and students alike are very satisfied with the fast and flexible response from their universities. Nevertheless, the purely digital teaching led to a significantly poorer learning experience for the students. They lacked the active campus experience and the interaction in the learning formats. These are the main results of the study “Universities, Corona and Now? How universities move from crisis mode to new teaching strategies for the digital world ”. The authors Stifterverband and McKinsey surveyed more than 11,000 students and 1,800 teachers at German universities in July and August.
"The universities have achieved an enormous amount in crisis mode," says Volker Meyer-Guckel, Deputy Secretary General of the Donors' Association. “The changeover to a location-independent apprenticeship worked very well - not only in terms of quantity, but often also in terms of quality. In the next semester, however, students will rightly expect more. The task now is to analyze the experiences in order to use them to modernize university teaching. The interlinking of digital teaching formats, where appropriate, with face-to-face events is the future. "
Big differences between the learning formats
There are, however, major differences in satisfaction between the individual digital formats: both teachers (87 percent) and students (78 percent) rate the conversion of teaching formats in larger groups (such as lectures) positively. On the other hand, the conversion of teaching formats in small groups (such as exercises or, in particular, laboratory work) is rated rather negatively. This applies above all to subjects with large practical components such as human medicine, natural sciences, art, music or sport. The assessments of teachers and students differ only slightly.
The longer the purely digital teaching lasted, the more dissatisfied the students were with their learning experience. The survey shows: What they missed most of all was the interactive, socializing campus life. In the 2019/2020 winter semester, the vast majority of students (85 percent) were satisfied with their learning experience. In the summer semester it was only 51 percent. The reasons for the increasing dissatisfaction are above all a lack of social life among students (68 percent), motivation and concentration problems when studying at home (58 percent) or the lack of orientation when assessing the subject matter (42 percent).
Teachers have a positive attitude towards digital teaching
The study also clears up some common prejudices. Teachers no longer rely on pure face-to-face teaching. Three quarters of the teachers have a positive or rather positive view of digital teaching. A majority can imagine offering every third event in the future in digital form. Many, if not all, scientists also have the necessary digital skills.
“In addition to the digital conversion of the familiar teaching and learning formats, we also absolutely need new formats in order to strengthen student interaction and improve the overall learning experience. This is especially true for first-year students and international students who first want to discover and experience everyday university life ”, sums up Solveigh Hieronimus, senior partner at McKinsey & Company. “It is important that universities readjust as quickly as possible. You now have the chance to rapidly develop your teaching in order to prepare the graduates excellently for the digital cultural change in science, business and society. "
Corona as an opportunity for universities
Conclusion of the study: The Corona crisis gives universities the opportunity to expand their existing classroom teaching with digital offers and thus to make university teaching more excellent in the long term. Solveigh Hieronimus: "Not every university should develop new formats on its own, but use economies of scale and develop technically sophisticated digital applications such as VR laboratories together in university alliances." The universities as a whole are required to create more social formats and opportunities for interaction. They could also learn from companies that increasingly experimented with digital social formats - such as open, virtual exchange rooms or digital speed dating - during the Corona crisis.
The interlinking of face-to-face events and digital formats also requires a comprehensive transformation of the institution. Volker Meyer-Guckel: "Governance and culture have to adapt, new university learning spaces have to be set up, and appropriate teaching strategies developed in cooperation with students." to use their teaching formats, but also to be able to successfully convey them to their students.