Assessing the relationship between academic communities of practice and collegial learning: Case: Université des Mascareignes

ABSTRACT

The world of education has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic which has imposed a change in teaching and learning across all sectors. With regard to higher education, academics were forced to resort to online education which took various forms. Academics from the Universite des Mascareignes (UdM), a public university in Mauritius, have embraced e-learning using dedicated and improvised platforms. At the same time, some of them have followed training linked to e-learning. The pandemic situation has allowed academic staff to work as communities of practice where they have engaged in groups to master online education practices. At the same time, they developed a collegial apprenticeship where they had to share their learning experiences. A longitudinal survey was carried out among about 30 academics 1year apart. The research aimed to identify the relationship between community of practice and college learning. The results revealed that both concepts were applied during this period and that there was an adequate relationship between them. An effective community of practice has positively contributed to a high level of college learning. This condition remained strong during the pandemic although the long-term viability of such a relationship had yet to be confirmed. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.