Measuring disruption in higher education using the metaphor of ecology: A case study of changes to postsecondary education during the COVID-19 pandemic

McKee, Nathan Patrick

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/117793 Copy

Description

Title

Measuring disruption in higher education using the metaphor of ecology: A case study of changes to postsecondary education during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author(s)

McKee, Nathan Patrick

Issue Date

2022-11-30

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Cope, William

Doctoral Committee Chair(s)

Cope, William

Committee Member(s)

• Kalantzis, Mary
• Pak, Yoon
• Burbules, Nicholas

Department of Study

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Discipline

Educ Policy, Orgzn & Leadrshp

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

Ed.D.

Degree Level

Dissertation

Keyword(s)

• COVID-19
• Higher Education
• Postsecondary Education
• Ecology
• Metaphor
• Teaching
• Learning
• Educational Technology
• Online Learning
• Remote Learning
• Video Conferencing
• Course Evaluations
• Pandemic

Abstract

The novel coronavirus “COVID-19” was first detected in the United States in February 2020, and its effects were immediately felt in many dimensions of public postsecondary education as it faced unprecedented challenges related to instructional continuity resulting from the rapidly increasing risk of COVID-19 exposure to all members of the community. This interpretive case study describes the actions taken by a large, public postsecondary research institution as it reacted to factors that prompted and required operational changes to ensure instructional and operational continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic. While this global health crisis will not likely recur identically in the future, this case study illustrates how different dimensions of teaching and learning were interconnected in the form of an ecological metaphor and were affected during COVID-19's disruption to standard operating procedures with the intention of improving future planning related to instructional support efforts. This case study focuses primarily on instruction and student learning but includes information about changes to physical spaces and technologies used for communication and instruction within the shifting "ecology". Instructional technology support demand patterns are viewed in sync with a timeline of pandemic spread events and communications from federal, state, and local agencies while including secondary, institutional data related to student enrollment, course evaluations, retention, and graduation rates prior to and during the pandemic. The result of this case study is a descriptive narrative that describes a chronology of external changes and their measured impacts on the dimensions within the broader ecology of the university.

Graduation Semester

2022-12

Type of Resource

Thesis

Copyright and License Information

© 2022 Nathan Patrick McKee

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