Embracing the digitalization of research education? How social science research education was influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 pandemic led to a strong digitalization push at university level teaching. The latter had to be converted to distance modes quickly. This paper discusses the consequences of these developments for the field of social science research education, a discipline where the personal interaction between lecturers and students traditionally plays a major role in the transfer of knowledge and competences. Accordingly, we ask whether lecturers accepted distance learning as part of their work and if they will implement the associated digital teaching modalities into their regular teaching repertoire in the future. Furthermore, indicators shaping the acceptance of future distance teaching are explored. The article is based on a continuous online survey of lecturers (n = 169) who teach social science methods and methodology at Austrian public universities. The results of this study show that more than 40 % of the sample with or after the experience of distance teaching will retain some aspects of it in their teaching due to the CODIV-19 pandemic. In particular, the evaluation of the preparation effort, the interaction with students and the attitude toward new didactic methods play a central role in the acceptance of distance teaching.