‘Love’ or ‘Hate’? TAM-guided Frameworks of Lecturers’ and Students’ Assessment of Online Teaching/Learning

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic brought radical pedagogical shifts to global higher education. Online teaching/learning has become the mainstream under the context of the pandemic. Although vaccines have been increasingly provided and face-to-face teaching has resumed in some institutions, people are advised to adapt themselves to the changes under the new normal. Lecturers and students still need to be prepared for online teaching/learning in case of another round of outbreak. This study was conducted to generate and compare lecturers’ and students’ assessment of online teaching/learning in hospitality and tourism undergraduate programmes in Mainland China. With the theoretical guidance of the technology acceptance model (TAM), from semi-structured interviews with seventeen lecturers and ten students, a ‘Love’ framework and a ‘Hate’ framework were proposed explaining why lecturers and students love or hate online teaching/learning. Consistency and variances were identified comparing lecturers’ and students’ concerns. Both frameworks extend TAM in the online education setting and can be used as theoretical guidance for future online teaching/learning studies. Findings provide stakeholders clear directions and practical solutions to better prepare for the new normal.