ABSTRACT
A number of studies on higher education (HE) teachers' emotions have been carried out, but overall, the literature on this issue is relatively limited, even though HE teaching can be regarded as an emotional endeavor and represents an important topic in HE research. The main goal of this article was to develop a conceptual framework for examining teaching-related emotions of HE teachers by revising and extending the control-value theory of achievement emotions (CVTAE) developed to systematically classify existing findings on emotions in HE teachers and to identify a research agenda for future studies in this field. Therefore, we conducted a systematic literature review on empirical studies investigating HE teachers' teaching-related emotions to gain insights into (1) the theoretical concepts and approaches used to study HE teachers' emotions as well as the (2) antecedents and (3) consequences of experienced emotions identified in the existing studies. By applying a systematic literature review, 37 studies were found. Based on the conducted systematic review, we propose a CVTAE-based conceptual framework for examining HE teachers' emotions in HE teaching with additional components relating to both antecedents and consequences of HE teachers' experienced emotions. We discuss the proposed conceptual framework from the theoretical perspective, pointing out new aspects that should be considered in future research on HE teachers' emotions. From the methodological perspective, we address aspects related to research designs and mixed-method approaches. Finally, we list implications for future higher education development programs.
ABSTRACT
The sudden impact of the COVID-19 pandemic challenged universities to provide students with online teaching and learning settings that were both immediately applicable and supportive of quality learning. This resulted in a broad variety of synchronous and asynchronous online settings of teaching and learning. While some courses balanced both kinds, others offered either predominantly synchronous or asynchronous teaching and learning. In a survey study with students (N=3,056) and teachers (N=396) from a large German university, we explored whether a predominance of synchronous or asynchronous teaching and learning settings in higher education was associated with certain student experiences and outcomes. Additionally, we examined how well these two types of teaching and learning settings support students' basic psychological needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness proposed by self-determination theory (SDT). Data were collected after the first online semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results imply that from the students' perspective, the teaching methods involved in the two settings of teaching and learning differ with regard to their potential to support social interaction and to support basic psychological needs as proposed by SDT. Students who studied mostly in synchronous settings reported more peer-centered activities such as feedback in comparison to students in mostly asynchronous settings. In contrast, teachers perceived fewer differences between teaching methods in synchronous and asynchronous settings, especially regarding feedback activities. Further, students in mostly synchronous settings reported greater support of their basic psychological needs for competence support and relatedness as well as a greater overall satisfaction with the online term compared to students in mostly asynchronous settings. Across all students, greater fulfillment of psychological needs and higher technology acceptance coincided with outcomes that are more favorable. Implications for the post-pandemic classroom are drawn.
