Effectiveness of remote teaching during covid-19 pandemic in a small business program

Purpose The paper aims to compare remote teaching effectiveness with face-to-face classroom teaching. This study seeks to investigate the influence of remote teaching on student academic learning during the pandemic compared to prepandemic, utilizing self-reported data from students. Design/methodology/approach The analysis is based on information extracted from the Student Course Evaluation. The study defines Spring 2019 and Fall 2019 semesters as prepandemic and labels them as the comparison base period. Spring 2020, Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 semesters are considered “during the pandemic” for comparison. Findings Upon comparing the average scores, the study findings indicate that students experienced a reduction in learning during the pandemic in contrast to the prepandemic period. Notably, a substantial decline in student academic learning was observed in the Spring 2020, followed by the Fall 2020 semesters. However, with the passage of time, the adverse impact of remote teaching on student learning showed a gradual decrease. In the Spring 2021 semester, students’ self-reports on learning in their business courses returned to prepandemic levels. Research limitations/implications The study has relied on secondary data sources and student self-reporting. Future research should aim to use more controlled data to mitigate the limitations associated with secondary data. Practical implications The study suggests that remote teaching could be as effective as face-to-face classroom teaching, and administrators of universities and colleges may consider it a viable option in the future. Originality/value This paper adds an important (probably first) empirical study of remote teaching effectiveness to the field of online learning literature.