Physics tutors’ perspectives on tutoring before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study at a comprehensive South African university

Sinenhlanhla Fortunate Sihlangu; Bonginkosi Vincent Kheswa

doi:10.29333/pr/12866

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Sinenhlanhla Fortunate Sihlangu ¹ ^* , Bonginkosi Vincent Kheswa ²

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¹ University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA² Department of Physics, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, SOUTH AFRICA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The research investigates the experience of physics tutors at a comprehensive South African university during online and hybrid learning because of the COVID-19 pandemic. A questionnaire was filled in by 12 tutors from a department of physics. The findings were that the tutors could manage tutoring large numbers of students in the online space and hybrid space. The tutors could manage tutor-to-student ratios of 1:200. More than 50% of the tutors found it difficult to adjust to e-tutoring and the main cause of this was unstable internet connectivity. More students were present for online tutorials than face-to-face tutorials but there was little active participation from students. The major challenge that tutors face with face-to-face tutoring is disruptive behavior from students during the tutorial sessions.

Keywords

tutors
online tutoring
hybrid learning
blended learning
online classes

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

PEDAGOGICAL RES, Volume 8, Issue 2, April 2023, Article No: em0155

https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12866

Online publication date: 22 Jan 2023

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How to cite this article

APA

Sihlangu, S. F., & Kheswa, B. V. (2023). Physics tutors’ perspectives on tutoring before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study at a comprehensive South African university. Pedagogical Research, 8(2), em0155. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12866

Vancouver

Sihlangu SF, Kheswa BV. Physics tutors’ perspectives on tutoring before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study at a comprehensive South African university. PEDAGOGICAL RES. 2023;8(2):em0155. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12866

AMA

Sihlangu SF, Kheswa BV. Physics tutors’ perspectives on tutoring before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study at a comprehensive South African university. PEDAGOGICAL RES. 2023;8(2), em0155. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12866

Chicago

Sihlangu, Sinenhlanhla Fortunate, and Bonginkosi Vincent Kheswa. "Physics tutors’ perspectives on tutoring before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study at a comprehensive South African university". Pedagogical Research 2023 8 no. 2 (2023): em0155. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12866

Harvard

Sihlangu, S. F., and Kheswa, B. V. (2023). Physics tutors’ perspectives on tutoring before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study at a comprehensive South African university. Pedagogical Research, 8(2), em0155. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12866

MLA

Sihlangu, Sinenhlanhla Fortunate et al. "Physics tutors’ perspectives on tutoring before, during, and after the COVID-19 pandemic: A case study at a comprehensive South African university". Pedagogical Research, vol. 8, no. 2, 2023, em0155. https://doi.org/10.29333/pr/12866