Drawing on Student Voices to Enhance (Online) Teaching in Academic Continuing Education

This study explores how students in academic continuing education (ACE) experienced online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been extensive research on how the pandemic affected teaching and learning of ‘traditional students’, the perspective of this particular student group has been neglected so far. Results, which are based on a mixed-methods design, including a survey (N=184) and four focus-group discussions (N=15) at one university in Austria, revealed a great variety of experiences and preferences towards (online) teaching in line with the heterogeneity of this student cohort. However, findings also reveal that characteristics, such as gender, caring responsibilities, and field of study are closely linked to the barriers and difficulties perceived while studying during the pandemic. Results emphasize the important role of educators in shaping online learning experiences and highlight the need of professionalization to meet the needs of ACE students and to enhance (online) teaching in ACE in a post-COVID-19 era.